Orange unveils map with cases by ZIP code

Demings: County response driven by data, could be tailored to target clusters

Orange County officials expect local cases of the novel coronavirus to hit 500 by Friday and said the number of hospitalizations and the percent of positive tests are rising, indications that the pandemic could be “taking hold” here.

Mayor Jerry Demings, for the first time, unveiled a map that shows which ZIP codes have the most cases in the county.

The 32822 ZIP code, which runs roughly from S.R. 436 east to Chickasaw Trail and from the Beachline in the south to S.R. 408 to the north, has the most cases at 25.

The 32824 ZIP code in the Southchase and Meadow Woods area has 22 cases. And the 32837 ZIP code of Hunter’s Creek also has 22. Demings said 38 ZIP codes in the county have at least one case.

Raul Pino, local state health officer, said he expects the ZIP code data to change over time and that people who live in areas with fewer cases should not let down their guard and continue social distancing as well as good hand-washing practices. The data will help target messaging and testing, he said.

“The epidemic here seems to be running like two weeks behind other harder-hit cities like New York City or Miami,” Pino said. “That’s why the next two weeks are very critical for us in continuing to prevent the spread of the disease. It’s in our control to stop spreading the disease around.”

Demings and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, at the first briefing since Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered 20 million Floridians to stay at home for 30 days, said the governor should have acted sooner, but welcomed the statewide order as the state enters what is expected to be a critical few weeks.

By Wednesday night the state had nearly 8,000 confirmed cases of the virus and 101 deaths. Orange County had logged 392 confirmed cases, four deaths and 64 hospitalizations. State health officials reported 683 coronavirus cases combined in Orange, Lake, Osceola and Seminole counties. Seminole had 115, Osceola 109 and Lake had 67. About 150 of those who tested positive required hospital care.

Pino also said more younger people are becoming infected in Orange County and the rate of positive tests has jumped from less than 7 percent to about 10 percent, a sign the pandemic could be “taking hold” community.

Demings said he had a meeting planned with local hospital officials Friday to go over data with “surgical precision,” emphasizing that the county’s response will be driven by data and could be tailored specifically to target clusters.

“We may have to respond to something if a cluster is identified because we’ll have that level of detail behind the scenes,” Demings said. “In order to mitigate the spread of this virus, we want to be pretty surgical in how we respond to it.”

This week will be critical for combating the virus, Demings said, and response from residents could determine how large the surge will be at month’s end.

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