The Lake County Jail is continuing to battle a COVID-19 outbreak, with 100 cases now being reported at the facility in Tavares.
The jail reported 57 cases this past Friday, but the overall number has jumped significantly since then. Those cases include 85 inmates, six employees and nine patients whose identities haven’t yet been confirmed, according to Lt. John Herrell of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
Herrell said that while the majority of patients at the jail remain asymptomatic, some are displaying mild symptoms such as headaches, body aches, nausea, etc. He said the symptoms are being treated accordingly and none of the patients have been hospitalized.
Overall on Wednesday, the tri-county area was reporting 1,152 Coronavirus cases among 638 men, 489 women, 22 non-residents and three listed as unknown. There have been 41 deaths and 174 people have been hospitalized.
Partly because of the outbreak at the jail, Lake County continues to pace the local area with 552 cases among 309 men, 226 women, 15 non-residents and two listed as unknown. There have been 16 deaths and 86 people have required some form of hospital care.
Of the Lake County cases, 10 have been reported in The Villages, 20 are in Lady Lake and six are in Fruitland Park. Others have been identified in Clermont (137), Tavares (124), Leesburg (58), Eustis (58), Mount Dora (29), Groveland (24), Mascotte (14), Sorrento (14), Minneola (11), Umatilla (8), Montverde (5), Howey-in-the-Hills (3), Altoona (2), Okahumpka (1), Grand Island (2), Astor (1), Paisley (2) and Yalaha (1).
Sumter County increased by just one case to 269 among 189 men, 78 women and two non-residents. There have been 17 deaths and 45 people have been hospitalized.
Of the Sumter County cases, 71 have been reported in The Villages, with another 122 in Bushnell – all but one of those have been identified at the Sumter Correctional Institution (105 inmates and 16 staff members). Other cases have been reported in Lake Panasoffkee (22), Oxford (19), Wildwood (9), Webster (8), Lady Lake portion of the county (6), Sumterville (5), Coleman (4) and Center Hill (1). The federal prison in Coleman also has identified four cases among three staff members and one inmate.
Marion County added six new cases for a total of 331. Those are comprised of 140 men, 185 women, five non-residents and one listed as unknown. There have been eight deaths and 43 people have been seen in area hospitals.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Florida Department of Health in Marion County identified the newest patients as:
- 22-year-old male from Belleview;
- 22-year-old female from Ocala;
- 30-year-old male from Ocala;
- 33-year-old male from Ocala;
- 53-year-old male from Belleview; and
- 60-year-old female from Ocala.
Two of the Marion County cases have been reported in The Villages, with another 34 in Summerfield where the retirement communities of Del Webb Spruce Creek, Stonecrest and Spruce Creek South are located. The health department reported testing close to 400 people in Stonecrest on Wednesday at one of its drive-thru sites.
The overwhelming majority of Marion County cases – 226 – have been reported in Ocala. Others have been identified in Dunnellon (15), Belleview (13), Citra (11), Ocklawaha (7), Anthony (3), Reddick (2), Silver Springs (3), Weirsdale (1) and Fort McCoy (1).
All told, Florida is reporting 82,719 COVID-19 cases – an increase of 2,610 in a 24-hour period. Of those, 80,676 are residents. There have been 3,018 deaths and 12,389 people have been hospitalized across the Sunshine State. Those numbers reflect an increase from Tuesday to Wednesday of 25 deaths and 183 more patients requiring hospital care.
