On the day when Florida fared poorly in a study on COVID-19-related safety, 21 more local residents lost their battle with the deadly illness.

Twelve of the local fatalities were in Marion County, while seven lived in Lake County and two resided in Sumter County. They are among the 1,644 tri-county area deaths, the 31,955 in Florida and the 519,316 across the country.

The study released Thursday showed that Florida ranked 44th out of all 50 states and Washington, D.C. when it comes to staying safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study, which was conducted by the personal finance website WalletHub, took into account the vaccination rate, testing rate, hospitalization rate, death rate and transmission rate of the virus.

Texas, New Jersey, Delaware, the District of Columbia, New York, Georgia and Virginia ranked worse than Florida. The states that fared the best were Alaska, Hawaii, North Dakota, New Mexico and South Dakota.

Locally, Lake County is reporting 24,928 COVID-19 cases – an increase of 87 in a 24-hour period. There have been 574 deaths and 1,302 people have been hospitalized.

Leesburg is now reporting 3,857 cases – an overnight increase of 14. Others have been identified in Clermont (6,524), Eustis (2,213), Mount Dora (1,880), Tavares (1,812), Groveland (1,678), Lady Lake (1,483), Sorrento (718), Minneola (714), Fruitland Park (679), Umatilla (646), Mascotte (495), Grand Island (319), Montverde (309), Astatula (192), Howey-in-the-Hills (187), Altoona (180), The Villages (169), Paisley (122), Astor (99), Yalaha (68), Okahumpka (50), Mount Plymouth (12) and Ferndale (8).

Below is a breakdown of other COVID-19 activity in the local area:

TRI-COUNTY AREA

  • Cases: 60,932 – increase of 177
  • Deaths: 1,644
  • Hospitalizations: 3,586

SUMTER COUNTY

  • Cases: 8,125 – increase of 30
  • Deaths: 243
  • Hospitalizations: 510
  • Areas/cities with most cases: The Villages (3,856), Wildwood (952), Bushnell (859), Coleman (829) and Oxford (461).

MARION COUNTY

  • Cases: 27,879 – increase of 60
  • Deaths: 827
  • Hospitalizations: 1,774
  • Cities with most cases: Ocala (20,485), Summerfield (1,744), Dunnellon (1,261), Belleview (1,201) and Silver Springs (583).

All told, Florida is reporting 1,930,232 cases – an increase of 6,118 from Wednesday to Thursday. Of those, 1,894,722 are residents. A total of 81,379 COVID-19 cases have been reported in long-term care centers and 31,044 in correctional facilities. Across the state, 80,338 people have been hospitalized.