Scott Powers
Authorities reported 1,444 new COVID-19 cases in Central Florida Tuesday morning through Wednesday morning, the single-largest daily increase for the region in several weeks.
Orange County recorded 573 new cases, the most seen since mid-November. Increases over the previous several days’ reports also were recorded in Brevard, Lake, Osceola, Seminole and Volusia counties, as shown in the latest daily report from the Florida Department of Health. It marked a 30% one-day jump in new cases overall for the six-county greater Orlando area.
Wednesday’s report also was the fifth daily report in a row that tallied more than 1,000 new cases across Central Florida, a level not seen that consistently for months.
It came on a day when the state of Florida saw its highest daily increase since July. The 10,870 new coronavirus infections recorded statewide for Wednesday was the highest one-day total since July 27.
The increases came on a day of increased testing, both in Central Florida and statewide, compared with the past week.
The positive rate for test results that were compiled through Tuesday dipped slightly both in Central Florida and statewide. The statewide positive-test rate for Tuesday’s batch of results was 8%, down from 9% the day before. Central Florida’s positive-test rates ranged from 5% in Volusia to 9% in Osceola.
Thus far, Central Florida experienced the worst outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic since the spike that started around June 27 and continued through the end of July. The outbreak seemed to peak with a running seven-day average of more than 1,600 new cases each day through mid-July.
Central Florida also is seeing an immediate trend of more people being hospitalized for the coronavirus continuing. On Wednesday, 47 more people were admitted to hospitals with the disease region wide, including 17 in Volusia County. That’s the third consecutive day the number was that high, after the numbers of reported fatalities were in the teens or 20s for the previous few days.
Thirteen people were reported Thursday to have died from COVID-19 in Central Florida. That includes six people in Brevard, four in Orange, two in Volusia and one in Seminole.
