The number of new cases of the COVID-19 virus slowed to crawl in the tri-county area on Saturday, with only four new patients being identified.
There are now 721 cases of the potentially deadly virus in Sumter, Lake and Marion counties. They are comprised of 389 men, 312 women and 20 non-residents. There have been 35 deaths and 142 people have been hospitalized.
Sumter County, where the majority of Villages homes are located, is reporting 251 cases – an increase of just one in a 24-hour period. They are divided among 179 men, 69 women and three non-residents. There have been 16 deaths and 44 patients have required hospital care.
There have been 118 COVID-19 cases – 16 staff and 102 prisoners – and two inmate deaths reported at the Sumter Correctional Institution in Bushnell. Three staff members and two inmates at the federal prison in Coleman also have tested positive.
Buffalo Crossings Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in The Villages on Saturday was reporting positive rest results among one resident who transferred out and seven staff members. Osprey Point Nursing Center in Bushnell reported one death and one positive result in a resident who transferred out of the facility.
Lake County also increased by just one case to 250 – 116 men, 122 women and 12 non-residents. There have been 14 deaths and 67 people have been hospitalized.
Marion County increased by two cases to 220 among 94 men, 121 women and five non-residents. There have been five deaths and 31 patients have been treated in area hospitals.
There have been 71 cases identified in The Villages. Some of the additional cases in the tri-county area have been reported in Ocala (156), Clermont (84), Leesburg (39), Oxford (13), Lady Lake (10), Wildwood (9) and Fruitland Park (2). Six cases also have been identified in the Lady Lake portion of Sumter County.
The Florida Department of Health reported Saturday that 20,724 tri-county residents have been tested for the Coronavirus, with 19,995 showing negative results and eight coming back inconclusive. Another 623 residents also are awaiting testing, with the majority of those – 590 – being in Marion County.
All told, Florida is reporting 44,811 COVID-19 cases – an increase of 673 from Friday to Saturday. Of those, 43,607 are Sunshine State residents. There have been 1,964 deaths and 8,146 people have been seen in hospitals across the state.
