More than 211,000 Floridians have been vaccinated against the deadly COVID-19 virus and in Marion County, more than 40,000 residents have registered for the highly sought-after doses.
Staff members at the Department of Health in Marion County were busy Friday calling those residents to schedule appointments for the coming week. Marion County residents wishing to sign up for vaccines can click HERE.
Drive-through COVID-19 testing also will take place over the next two weeks on a first come, first served basis at the Southeastern Livestock Pavilion in Ocala. The free testing will be available from 10 a.m.-noon on Jan. 5 and 6, and again on Jan. 12 and 13.
Meanwhile, the Florida Department of Health didn’t issue its daily COVID-19 updates on Friday because of the New Year’s Day holiday. The reports will return on Saturday, Jan. 2, according to a tweet from the state’s department of health. The department also didn’t release reports on Thanksgiving or Christmas.
The lack of updated information comes on the day after Florida reported its biggest jump in the number of new COVID-19 cases since the pandemic first hit the state last spring. All told, the Sunshine State reported 1,323,315 COVID-19 cases on Thursday – an increase of 17,192 from the previous day. Of those, 1,300,528 were listed as residents. A total of 64,835 cases had been reported in long-term care centers and 27,337 in correctional facilities. Across the state, there had been 21,990 deaths and 62,868 people had been hospitalized.
On Thursday, the tri-county area reported 38,443 cases – an increase of 840 in a 24-hour period. There had been 878 deaths and 2,714 people had been treated in area hospitals.
The breakdown Thursday of local counties included:
MARION COUNTY
- Cases: 17,799 – increase of 348
- Deaths: 463
- Hospitalizations: 1,341
- Cities with most cases: Ocala (13,340), Summerfield (1,026), Dunnellon (770), Belleview (708) and Silver Springs (304).
LAKE COUNTY
- Cases: 15,559 – increase of 358
- Deaths: 295
- Hospitalizations: 995
- Cities with most cases: Clermont (4,140), Leesburg (2,483), Eustis (1,259), Mount Dora (1,202) and Tavares (1,169).
SUMTER COUNTY
- Cases: 5,085 – increase of 134
- Deaths: 120
- Hospitalizations: 378
- Areas/cities with most cases: The Villages (2,128), Coleman (732), Wildwood (682), Bushnell (556) and Oxford (286).