On a day when Gov. Ron DeSantis vowed to take action against hospitals that aren’t distributing COVID-19 vaccines quickly, 15 more local residents died of the virus and Florida continued to see a massive increase in new cases.
Ten of the latest fatalities lived in Lake County and the other five were residents of Marion County. They are among the 925 local deaths, 22,415 in Florida and 352,645 across the country.
DeSantis promised that hospitals that do not do a “good job” of distributing the vaccine will see their allocation of doses transferred to those who are getting them out quickly and efficiently.
“We do not want vaccine to just be idle at some hospital system,” he said during a press briefing.
All told, Florida is reporting 1,376,692 cases – an increase of 11,256 from Sunday to Monday. Of those, 1,352,222 are residents. A total of 65,658 cases have been reported in long-term care centers and 27,501 in correctional facilities. Across the state, there have been 22,415 deaths and 63,505 people have been hospitalized.
Locally, Marion County is reporting 18,741 cases – an increase of 130 in a 24-hour period. There have been 485 deaths and 1,350 people have been hospitalized.
Ocala continues to pace Marion County with 13,959 cases – an overnight increase of 82. Others have been identified in Summerfield (1,102), Dunnellon (830), Belleview (752), Citra (326), Silver Springs (325), Ocklawaha (277), Reddick (188), Fort McCoy (156), Anthony (144), Weirsdale (133), The Villages (58), Flemington (34), Salt Springs (32), Sparr (17), McIntosh (16), Orange Lake (15), Candler (14), Lowell (13), Morriston (6), Orange Springs (6), East Lake (5) and Fairfield (5).
Below is a breakdown of other COVID-19 activity in the local area:
TRI-COUNTY AREA
- Cases: 40,627 – increase of 405
- Deaths: 925
- Hospitalizations: 2,733
LAKE COUNTY
- Cases: 16,483 – increase of 222
- Deaths: 318
- Hospitalizations: 999
- Cities with most cases: Clermont (4,368), Leesburg (2,631), Eustis (1,382), Mount Dora (1,278) and Tavares (1,231).
SUMTER COUNTY
- Cases: 5,403 – increase of 53
- Deaths: 122
- Hospitalizations: 384
- Areas/cities with most cases: The Villages (2,242), Coleman (774), Wildwood (711), Bushnell (584) and Oxford (315).