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Ocala
Friday, March 29, 2024

Florida among five states with nearly half of all new COVID-19 cases

On the day that four more local COVID-19 fatalities were reported in the tri-county area and 70 more were identified across the Sunshine State, a study showed that Florida is among five states that comprise an overwhelming percentage of the nation’s new Coronavirus cases.

That’s according to data provided by Johns Hopkins University, which showed that over a seven-day period, Florida, New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania and New Jersey had 44 percent of the new COVID-19 infections – close to 197,500 positive results – across the country. Total infections across the country in the week cited in the study totaled more than 452,000 cases.

Some health experts have suggested that those five states should receive larger portion of COVID-19 vaccines. But President Joe Biden’s administration doesn’t appear ready to alter its current method of delivering vaccinations to states based on population.

Two of the latest local fatalities were in Marion County and the other two were in Sumter County. They are among the 1,800 deaths in the tri-county area, the 34,364 in Florida and the 556,185 across the country.

As of Tuesday, more than 6.43 million Floridians have received COVID-19 vaccines, with more than 3.76 million receiving both doses. In the tri-county area, 307,614 residents have been vaccinated, with 199,759 of those receiving both doses.

Those local vaccines break down as:

  • Marion County: 103,302 total doses, 65,387 both doses;
  • Lake County: 128,115 total doses, 79,058 both doses; and
  • Sumter County: 76,197 total doses, 55,314 both doses.

All told, Florida is reporting 2,085,306 COVID-19 cases – an increase of 3,480 from Sunday to Monday. Of those, 2,046,280 are residents. A total of 83,184 COVID-19 cases have been reported in long-term care centers and 31,702 in correctional facilities. Across the state, 85,800 people have been hospitalized.

Locally, Marion County is reporting 29,327 COVID-19 cases – an increase of 33 in a 24-hour period. There have been 927 deaths and 2,002 people have been hospitalized.

Ocala continues to lead Marion County with 21,464 cases – an overnight increase of 18. Others have been identified in Summerfield (1,833), Dunnellon (1,344), Belleview (1,285), Silver Springs (635), Citra (482), Ocklawaha (479), Reddick (302), Fort McCoy (302), Anthony (276), Weirsdale (234), The Villages (184), Salt Springs (49), Flemington (34), McIntosh (30), Orange Lake (24), Sparr (22), Lowell (19), Candler (19), East Lake (12), Fairfield (8) and Orange Springs (8).

Below is a breakdown of other COVID-19 activity in the local area:

TRI-COUNTY AREA

  • Cases: 65,294 – increase of 92
  • Deaths: 1,800
  • Hospitalizations: 3,989

SUMTER COUNTY

  • Cases: 8,886 – increase of 6
  • Deaths: 262
  • Hospitalizations: 561
  • Areas/cities with most cases: The Villages (4,162), Wildwood (1,027), Bushnell (957), Coleman (844) and Oxford (508).

LAKE COUNTY

  • Cases: 27,081 – increase of 53
  • Deaths: 611
  • Hospitalizations: 1,426
  • Cities with most cases: Clermont (7,141), Leesburg (4,110), Eustis (2,380), Mount Dora (2,023) and Tavares (1,910).