Orange has highest day of new cases
Another 1,902 coronavirus cases reported statewide
Orange County has set another single-day record for positive coronavirus cases, and one expert is warning that Floridians may have developed a false sense of safety after the state flattened the curve and started to reopen.
State data Friday showed 124 new cases in Orange County, setting a single-day record for the second consecutive day. The state reported 121 new virus cases on Thursday. That combined twoday total is higher than the entire week of May 31, which saw 203 cases.
Positive cases are also climbing in Seminole and Lake counties and across the state.
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday blamed the statewide spike on greater testing of younger Floridians, who he said were much less likely to get seriously ill or die from the highly contagious coronavirus. “These are the people who are in the low-risk groups,” he said when asked about the increasing number of positive results, especially in age groups of 20 to 45. Some who test positive have shown no signs of having the disease, he said.
Statewide, another 1,902 coronavirus cases were reported on Friday, the biggest increase yet in daily reported infections. There have now been 70,971 cases in
Florida, according to the Florida Department of Health, along with 29 new deaths reported Friday for a total of 2,877 fatalities.
Dr. Cindy Prins, an epidemiologist at the University of Florida, said she suspects Floridians developed a false sense of safety after the state flattened the curve of new cases and DeSantis began reopening the economy. In addition, she said, the June heat and humidity make masks more uncomfortable, possibly causing more people to stop wearing them.
“I expect to see this continue to climb a bit,” Prins said. “What we really need to do is get the message out to people to wear a mask when you go out. I think that’s really, really critical.”
She also cautioned against dismissing as less serious new cases among younger people because they can pass on the virus to others who are more vulnerable. And, she said, COVID-19 has proved fatal in some young people.
“We have to remember that people even within [a younger] age group can get extremely ill,” she said. “I would certainly worry about asymptomatic spread.”
Dr. Raul Pino, the state health officer in Orange County, said his team is attempting to dissect the latest data for any local patterns that could help with prevention. So far, he said, one thing is clear.
“There is no denying that our positivity rate is increasing,” he said in an email.
As daily rates have increased in recent days — 7.4% Friday, the highest in about two months even as testing capacity has more than doubled — it’s boosted Orange County’s cumulative rate of positive cases to 3.1%. from 2.8%, a week earlier. The state’s rate of positive tests has remained flat at 5.3%.
Despite the jump in positive cases, officials at Orlando Health and Advent Health said this week they are not seeing a big jump in hospitalizations.
“We have seen a gradual increase in hospitalized COVID patients, but not in the form of a sudden spike this week,” said Dr. George Ralls, chief quality officer for Orlando Health and an emergency physician.
Avent Health has reported a “slight uptick” in hospitalizations.
Pino said this week that about half of new cases over the previous two weeks are people between 20 and 40, and about 21% of new cases are asymptomatic.
Seminole County reported 30 new cases Thursday after reporting 39 on Wednesday. In Lake County, 28 new cases were found Thursday, doubling the rate amount of the day prior, with a 3.9% rate of positive tests, its highest since April 27.
A heat map prepared by Orange County officials shows the ZIP code with the highest number of positive cases is Apopka’s 32712 with 52. Two ZIPS in west Orange that include the Pine Hills area — 32808 with 45 cases and 32818 with 39 cases — are the next highest.
Those ZIPs surpassed 32822 and 32824, in east Orange which previously had the most cases.