Scott Powers
More than 1,000 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed in Orange County and more than 2,000 were confirmed across Central Florida Wednesday, the first time since mid-July either of those levels has been seen in state pandemic reports.
The latest daily report from the Florida Department of Health recorded 1,044 new cases in Orange County, the largest one-day total seen since July 16, at the worst of the summer surge of the coronavirus across greater Orlando.
With the other five counties of greater Orlando — Seminole, Osceola, Lake, Brevard, and Volusia — the region tallied 2,243 new cases in Wednesday’s report, again the highest seen since July 16.
A similar surge was seen statewide. Across Florida, 13,871 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed in Wednesday’s Department of Health report, the state’s third-highest one day tally.
The latest figures from the state continued a two day wild swing in various indexes. In Tuesday’s report, which was based on a very small sample of new test results, just 6,984, the positive-test rates soared across the region to about 20% overall, with several counties seeing one-day highs set in that mark. The sample size of test results leading into Wednesday’s report was much more normal in size, maybe even larger than usual, with 19,509. In those results, the positive-test rates plunged back into the normal range seen over the past week, about 10% overall.
Now the caseload counts are soaring. Wednesday’s count of 1,044 new cases in Orange County was significantly higher than tallies of 582 on Tuesday and 641 on Monday. The region’s tally of 2,243 new cases soared above counts of 1,625 on Tuesday and 1,385 on Monday.
The positive test rates across Central Florida: 11.8% in Lake County, 11.1% in Osceola County, 10.6% in Orange County, 10.3% in Seminole County, 9.8% in Volusia County, and 6.7% in Brevard County. That is for the batch of test results returned on Tuesday and publicly reported Wednesday.
Wednesday’s report also shows 29 new COVID-19 patients admitted to Central Florida hospitals, including seven in Brevard, six each in Volusia and Orange, four in Osceola, and three each in Lake and Seminole.
The report also tallied 24 more deaths associated with COVID-19 in Central Florida. The fatalities included six in Orange County, five in Brevard, four in Volusia, three each in Lake and Osceola, and two in Seminole.
