TALLAHASSEE- The highly contagious omicron variant of the COVID-19 infection is causing cases to rise across the state with the positivity rate now at 13%.

In Palm Beach County, the positivity rate is 16%.

More than 60,000 new cases were reported last week.

Health officials in Florida credit vaccination efforts with keeping hospitalization rates low with only 2% of cases requiring admission due to COVID symptoms

The numbers currently available from the Florida Dept. of Health may not be entirely accurate due the number of people conducting home tests and/or not reporting their status to health officials.

The Centers For Disease Control still recommend masking and social distancing to help reduce the spread of COVID.

No mask mandates are currently in effect for Florida.

Read the latest COVID numbers from the Dept. of Health here.