Meanwhile, the number of hospitalized patients in Lee and Collier remains stubbornly high. The Lee County-based Lee Health hospital system, the region's largest health care provider, reported on Thursday that 124 of its patients had tested positive for COVID-19. About a month ago, the number was 55.
Hospital administrators have blamed the uptick in cases on vaccine hesitancy, reduced adherence to social distancing and masking guidelines, and an increase in more contagious COVID-19 variants.
The public Lee Health reports the number of all patients with COVID-19, even if it's not the primary reason they are hospitalized. The state, by contrast, reports the number of patients hospitalized because of COVID-19.