Two more tri-county residents have lost the battle against COVID-19 as more new cases were identified in Leesburg and Marion County reported an increase of 347 new patients in a 24-hour period.
The two fatalities were identified by the Florida Department of Health as:
- 90-year-old Lake County woman who tested positive July 22; and
- 79-year-old Marion County man from Ocala who tested positive July 7, hadn’t traveled recently but had been in contact with someone else suffering from the virus.
Lake County is reporting 4,259 cases – an increase of 90. Those are comprised of 1,980 men, 2,181 women, 31 non-residents and 67 people listed as unknown. There have been 49 deaths and 212 people have been hospitalized.
Leesburg added 13 new cases from Monday to Tuesday for a total of 645. That increase came one day after Leesburg commissioners approved a resolution strongly encouraging residents to wear masks when they are in public buildings or when they can’t properly practice social distancing.
Other Lake County cases were reported in Clermont (1,067), Tavares (549), Eustis (355), Groveland (308), Mount Dora (276), Lady Lake (151), Mascotte (150), Minneola (121), Sorrento (110), Montverde (78), Umatilla (78), Fruitland Park (72), Grand Island (42), Howey-in-the-Hills (32), The Villages (24), Astatula (24), Astor (23), Yalaha (18), Altoona (17), Paisley (13), Okahumpka (11), Ferndale (4) and Mount Plymouth (3).
Overall, the tri-county area is reporting 9,215 cases – an increase of 462 from Monday to Tuesday – among 4,124 men, 4,948 women, 48 non-residents and 95 people listed as unknown. There have been 127 deaths and 696 people have been hospitalized.
Sumter County now has 1,028 cases – an increase of 25 in a 24-hour period – among 553 men, 461 women, eight non-residents and six people listed as unknown. There have been 27 deaths and 146 people have been seen in area hospitals.
The Villages continues to lead Sumter County with 353 cases, followed by Bushnell with 201. Of those, 127 are at the Sumter Correctional Institution among 103 inmates and 24 staff members). Others have been identified in Wildwood (166), Oxford (70), Lake Panasoffkee (56), Webster (42), Coleman (37), Center Hill (30), Lady Lake portion of the county (23) and Sumterville (16). The federal prison in Coleman also is reporting 389 cases among 312 inmates and 77 staff members.
Marion County is now reporting 3,928 cases. It’s unclear when all of those new patients tested positive for the Coronavirus, but delayed reporting by some labs across the state dealing with an influx of new tests could have contributed to such a large increase.
The Marion County cases are comprised of 1,591 men, 2,306 women, nine non-residents and 22 people listed as unknown. There have been 51 deaths and 338 people have required some form of hospital care.
The overwhelming majority of Marion County cases – 3,019 – have been reported in Ocala, which saw an increase of 328 overnight. Others have been identified in Summerfield (194), Belleview (171), Dunnellon (124), Citra (49), Silver Springs (48), Reddick (47), Ocklawaha (40), Weirsdale (25), Anthony (23), Fort McCoy (12), Orange Lake (7), Candler (3), East Lake (3), Lowell (3), The Villages (3), Sparr (2), Morriston (1) and Salt Springs (1). A total of 179 cases also have been reported among inmates (158) and staff members (21) at Lowell Correctional Institution and Marion Correctional Institution.
All told, Florida is reporting 441,977 COVID-19 cases – an increase of 9,230 from Monday to Tuesday. Of those, 436,867 are residents. There have been 6,240 deaths and 24,917 people have been hospitalized across the Sunshine State. Those numbers show 191 more deaths since Monday and an additional 585 people requiring hospital care.
