7,939 new infections; Osceola and Orange among new hot spots

Florida added 7,939 coronavirus cases Thursday to bring the cumulative total to 2,104,686. With 84 more fatalities, 33,906 Florida residents are now dead.

The latest White House report shows Osceola, Orange and Volusia counties are among the top Florida hot spots for new cases between March 31 and April 6.COVID-19

infections across the state are rising, but deaths are declining.

As of Thursday’s report, the latest seven-day case count is 40,161, compared to the seven days before that, which was 37,096.

For deaths, it’s 412 in the past seven days, compared with 537 for the seven days before that.

Each report includes deaths from several previous days, as it can take two weeks or more for fatalities to be logged.

To date, 87,979 people have been hospitalized in Florida, according to the state’s report, which includes 219 newly reported hospitalizations since Wednesday’s update.

Across the state, 3,002 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 as of about 2 p.m. on Thursday, including 152 in Orange County, 65 in

Osceola, 50 in Lake and 69 in Seminole. The state’s online tool updates several times throughout the day.

Statewide, 6,786,461 people have received at least one vaccination shot, including 4,053,597 who have completed their shot regimen, whether it’s the two-dose Pfizer or Moderna option or the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The count is a snapshot through Wednesday, based on the report released Thursday.

Of those who have received at least the first dose, 3,448,929 are over the age of 65.

To date, 12,099,561 people have been tested in Florida, 33,572 more than Wednesday’s total.

Statewide, the latest positivity rate reported Thursday for Wednesday’s test results by the Florida Department of Health was 6.73%, but that’s for new cases only and excludes anyone who previously tested positive. For all cases including retests of those previously infected, the latest positivity rate is 8.21%.

Central Florida added 1,732 cases Thursday for a total of 375,245: 685 more in Orange for 127,153; 204 more in Polk for 62,606; 170 in Osceola for 40,666; 216 in Volusia for 39,538; 139 in Brevard for 38,123; 156 in Seminole for 30,915; 148 in Lake for 27,321; and 14 in Sumter for 8,923.

There were 23 new deaths across all eight Central Florida counties, bringing the region’s toll to 5,894. Polk County has the most coronavirus fatalities in the region with 1,292, followed by 1,206 in Orange, 825 in Brevard, 736 in Volusia, 612 in Lake, 488 in Osceola, 472 in Seminole and 263 in Sumter.

The virus has infected over 133 million people and has killed over 2.8 million worldwide, according to the Johns Hopkins University & Medicine Coronavirus Resource Center.

Nationwide, over 30.9 million people have been infected and over 559,000 have died.