Scott Powers
Another 1,461 cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Central Florida Wednesday, marking a slight dip in the upward trend in recent daily tallies.
However, the latest report from the Florida Department of Health also shows an uptick in the rate of virus tests that are coming back positive in greater Orlando, a less hopeful turn for a trend that had been showing falling rates for more than a week.
Among the six counties in the region, Orange County confirmed another 612 COVID-19 cases, putting Orange County’s total caseload over 70,000 for the 10-month pandemic. Another 205 cases were newly recorded in Volusia County, 166 in Brevard County, 166 in Osceola County, 165 in Lake County, and 147 in Seminole County.
Meanwhile, the positive-test result rate for Central Florida moved upward to 8.3% for the batch of 16,586 test results returned Monday, compared with a rate of about 7.5% the previous two days.
Lake County again showed the region’s highest positive-test rate, with 11.6% of those tested being told they have the disease. In Osceola County, the rate was 10.1%; in Volusia County, 9.3%; in Seminole County, 7.8%; in Brevard County, 7.7%; and in Orange County, 7.5%.
While the composite rate for the six counties still was lower than what was seen through most of mid-December, when 9% to 10% of tests were coming back positive across Central Florida for several days running, the last time the region’s positive test rate was below 7% was on Dec. 7. The composite Central Florida rate had been below 7% for weeks on end prior to that date.
The latest state report also showed that 37 patients with COVID-19 were admitted to hospitals, the most in several days. But only two people were reported to have died from COVID-19 in the latest report. The new hospital admissions were highest in Brevard, where 13 new patients were admitted, and in Lake, where nine were admitted.
The two COVID-19 deaths were both from Volusia County, according to the state report.
