Two Central Florida Counties Surpass 1,000 COVID-19 Deaths

ORLANDO, Florida – Polk and Orange counties reported their 1,000 coronavirus-related deaths on Friday since the start of the pandemic. The two counties have now exceeded 1,000 virus deaths each.

It comes as seniors in Florida still struggle to book appointments for the COVID-19 vaccine. Getting an appointment to receive the COVID-19 vaccine can be anything but quick and painless.

Florida woman helps people she’s never met get on the coveted list.

Jenn Greenberg has helped dozens of seniors she has never met navigate the confusing and often chaotic process of getting a COVID-19 vaccine.

Greenberg is part of a 120-member volunteer force helping Florida residents aged 65 and over overcome the daunting obstacles of state-run registration systems that are poorly organized and rely heavily on technology that helps them. often sounds like a foreign language.

[Here’s how to register for the COVID-19 vaccine in Florida]

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“I realized how many barriers were in place, which made it very difficult to put dates on hold,” said Greenberg.

She says the systems not only have negative effects on seniors, but also exacerbate income and racial disparities.

Florida Representative Anna Eskamani (D-Orlando) says wealthier communities are already seeing greater immunization coverage than low-income neighborhoods.

Click or tap here to learn more about Greenburg’s initiative to get seniors vaccinated.

New federal efforts may soon improve vaccine distribution as the Pentagon deploys more than 1,100 troops to five vaccination centers in what will be the first wave of increased military support for the White House campaign to vaccinate more Americans against COVID-19.

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Two of the five new military teams will visit vaccination centers opened in California. Senior coronavirus adviser Andy Slavitt said military personnel will arrive at these locations in just over a week. Three additional centers are expected to be announced shortly.

[READ YESTERDAY’S REPORT: Florida reports 7,000 new COVID-19 cases as counties work to keep vaccine secure]

Case

The Florida Department of Health reported 10,946 new cases on Friday, bringing the state’s overall total to 1,763,873 cases since the coronavirus pandemic began in March.

Deaths

Florida reported 215 new virus-related deaths on Friday, bringing the death toll to 27,913. This issue includes the 456 non-residents who died in Florida.

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Hospitalizations

As of Friday afternoon, 5,428 people infected with the virus were currently hospitalized in Florida, according to the National Agency for Healthcare Administration.

Since March, 73,970 people have been hospitalized in Florida after complications from COVID-19. This number includes the 339 new of patients recently hospitalized with the virus, according to the health department’s daily report released on Friday.

Positivity rate

The percentage of positive results was 5.8% for the 188,606 tests reported to the state. Health officials say the rate should stay between 5% and 10% to prove that a community has a grip on the virus and is curbing infections.

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Vaccinations

The Florida Department of Health recently began publishing a daily report on COVID-19 vaccines being administered statewide.

As of Friday afternoon, 1,894,209 people had been vaccinated in Florida. FDOH also reports that 554,502 people got their second hit.

See COVID-19 data for the Central Florida region below:

County	Case	New cases	Hospitalizations	New hospitalizations	Deaths	New deaths
Brevard	30,459	306	1,840	seven	666	3
Flagler	5 447	42	303	2	73	0
Lake	22,500	189	1 170	11	459	6
Marion	25 221	218	1,590	18	649	seven
Orange	105,725	736	2 243	11	1,001	11
Osceola	34 315	216	1211	4	384	-1
Polk	52,029	399	4,013	16	1,008	17
Seminole	24 764	129	1,057	5	386	1
Sumter	7 323	42	441	2	206	19
Volusia	31,863	187	1,557	ten	542	1

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