Ten percent of the juveniles who have been tested in the tri-county area have been identified with the COVID-19 virus.
That’s according to a report released Sunday by the Florida Department of Health that identifies 714 children under the age of 18 in the local area with the potentially deadly virus. That number stood at 563 on July 27, 374 on July 19 and 239 on July 12.
The current number represents about 6.5 percent of the COVID-19 cases currently being reported in Sumter, Lake and Marion counties. But it also shows an increase of 151 juvenile patients in a week’s time and an increase of 475 in just three weeks.
So far, 359 minors in Lake County have tested positive, while 310 have been identified in Marion County and 45 have been reported in Sumter County. A total of 7,099 juveniles have been tested in the tri-county area – 3,792 in Lake County, 2,856 in Marion County and 451 in Sumter County.
Across Florida, there have been 37,740 positive results among the 252,363 minors who have been tested. That amounts to a positivity rate of 15 percent across the state, which is five percentage points higher than the local rate.
There have been five deaths among children in Florida. One was in the 5-10 age bracket, while two each were in the 11-13 and 14-17 age brackets. Also, 388 minors have been hospitalized with the deadly virus.
The breakdown by age of those minors reported with COVID-19 across Florida is:
- Under 1 years old – 2,113 cases (6 percent);
- 1-4 years old – 6,004 cases (16 percent);
- 5-10 years old – 9,915 cases (26 percent);
- 11-13 years old – 6,254 cases (17 percent); and
- 14-17 years old – 13,454 cases (36 percent).