Orange County virus cases tick up.

Health officials say they’re still optimistic

Orange County logged 150 new cases of coronavirus last week, a significant increase over a week earlier, which saw 85 new cases in the county of 1.3 million people.

Officials said Monday they are cautiously watching the numbers this week to determine if a second wave of the pandemic is brewing or if the metrics will remain steady as restaurants, stores and some attractions such as Universal CityWalk, the resort’s dining and shopping complex, are welcoming more crowds.

“Our cases have gone up and that’s always a concern,” said Dr. Raul Pino, Orange’s officer for the Florida Department of Health.

But Pino said he was less concerned with the data by Monday afternoon than he was earlier in the day when he first saw data come in from the weekend.

That’s because the rate of tests coming back with positive results continues to drop despite increased testing, he said.

Overall, the county’s rate stands at 3.4%, including the most recent results. That’s a slight decrease from Friday, when it was 3.9%, Pino said.

The increase in new cases came during the week of May 10, the second full week of the state’s official reopening. Orange wasn’t alone. Neighboring counties also saw increases, though not as dramatic as Orange’s 76% weekto-week jump.

New cases in Osceola ticked up from 37 during the week of May 3 to 46 during the week of May 10. In Volusia the numbers increased from 33 to 43 during the same time period. Lake saw a jump from 6 cases to 11 last week. And Seminole tallied 16 new cases last week compared to 15 the week before.

Overall, Florida also reported more new coronavirus cases last week — 5,100 or the most it’s reported since the end of April.

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said he’s also keeping a close watch on the statistics as Monday