Florida reported its lowest total of new COVID-19 cases in months on Monday but the death toll from the virus across the tri-county area and the Sunshine State continued to climb at an alarming rate.
Sixteen more local fatalities were reported Monday – 11 in Lake County, four in Sumter County where the majority of Villages households are located and one in Marion County. They are among the 1,423 victims in the tri-county area, the 29,434 in Florida and the 486,111 across the country.
All told, Florida is reporting 1,830,988 cases – an increase of 3,615 from Sunday to Monday. Of those, 1,797,728 are residents. A total of 79,635 COVID-19 cases have been reported in long-term care centers and 30,377 in correctional facilities. Across the state, 76,219 people have been hospitalized.
Locally, Marion County is reporting 26,391 COVID-19 cases – an increase of 58 in a 24-hour period. There have been 677 deaths and 1,624 people have been hospitalized.
Ocala continues to lead Marion County with 19,455 cases – an overnight increase of 44. Others have been identified in Summerfield (1,661), Dunnellon (1,198), Belleview (1,120), Silver Springs (522), Citra (444), Ocklawaha (404), Reddick (271), Fort McCoy (258), Anthony (246), Weirsdale (205), The Villages (176), Salt Springs (47), Flemington (34), McIntosh (27), Sparr (21), Orange Lake (21), Lowell (18), Candler (17), Fairfield (8), East Lake (8), Orange Springs (7) and Morriston (5).
Below is a breakdown of other COVID-19 activity in the local area:
TRI-COUNTY AREA
- Cases: 57,497 – increase of 125
- Deaths: 1,423
- Hospitalizations: 3,323
LAKE COUNTY
- Cases: 23,498 – increase of 56
- Deaths: 527
- Hospitalizations: 1,227
- Cities with most cases: Clermont (6,135), Leesburg (3,680), Eustis (2,089), Mount Dora (1,799) and Tavares (1,731).
SUMTER COUNTY
- Cases: 7,608 – increase of 11
- Deaths: 219
- Hospitalizations: 472
- Areas/cities with most cases: The Villages (3,553), Wildwood (911), Bushnell (835), Coleman (822) and Oxford (438).