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The Villages
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Increase of COVID-19 cases slows considerably in tri-county area

For the first time since Gov. Ron DeSantis reopened Florida on June 5, the number of new COVID-19 cases in the local area has slowed to a crawl.

The tri-county area reported an increase of just 82 cases, with only seven of those – Leesburg (3), Summerfield (3) and Belleview (1) – being in the local area. That brings the total in the tri-county area to 13,057, which are divided among 5,656 men, 7,205 women, 52 non-residents and 144 people listed as unknown. There have been 198 deaths and 950 people hospitalized.

There were no cases reported Monday in The Villages and one was removed from the Lake County count, meaning the mega-retirement community is now reporting 455 cases. Of those, 428 are in Sumter County, 24 are in Lake County and three are in the Marion County portion of the sprawling retirement mecca.

Sumter County is now reporting 1,307 cases – an increase of just four in a 24-hour period – among 666 men, 629 women, eight non-residents and four people listed as unknown. There have been 41 deaths and 176 people hospitalized.

Bushnell is reporting 233 cases – 131 of which are at the Sumter Correctional Institution among 103 inmates and 28 staff members. Others have been reported in Wildwood (213), Oxford (82), Coleman (70), Lake Panasoffkee (68), Webster (68), Center Hill (36), Lady Lake portion of the county (27) and Sumterville (27). The federal prison in Coleman also is reporting 368 cases among 278 inmates and 90 staff members.

Lake County now has 5,177 cases – an increase of 30 overnight. Those are divided among 2,426 men, 2,625 women, 30 non-residents and 96 people listed as unknown. There have been 68 deaths and 281 people treated in area hospitals.

Clermont continues to pace Lake County with 1,354 cases. Others have been reported in Leesburg (780), Tavares (613), Eustis (435), Groveland (369), Mount Dora (349), Lady Lake (185), Mascotte (177), Minneola (148), Sorrento (131), Fruitland Park (100), Umatilla (98), Montverde (80), Grand Island (53), Astatula (36), Howey-in-the-Hills (34), The Villages (24), Yalaha (25), Astor (24), Altoona (20), Paisley (18), Okahumpka (13), Ferndale (5) and Mount Plymouth (3)

Marion County continues to lead the local area with 6,573 cases – an increase of 14 overnight – among 2,564 men, 3,951 women, 14 non-residents and 44 people listed as unknown. There have been 89 deaths and 493 people requiring some form of hospital care.

Ocala continues to pace Marion County with 5,215 cases – an increase of 50 in 24 hours. Others have been identified in Summerfield (266), Belleview (225), Dunnellon (196), Citra (135), Reddick (78), Silver Springs (76), Ocklawaha (66), Weirsdale (35), Anthony (34), Fort McCoy (18), Orange Lake (8), Lowell (5), Sparr (5), Candler (3), East Lake (3), The Villages (3), Morriston (2), Fairfield (2), McIntosh (2), Salt Springs (1) and Williston (1). A total of 1,313 cases have been reported among inmates (1,251) and staff members (62) at Lowell Correctional Institution and Marion Correctional Institution.

All told, Florida is reporting 536,961 COVID-19 cases – an increase of 4,155 from Sunday to Monday. Of those, 531,217 are residents. There have been 8,408 deaths and 30,785 people have been hospitalized across the Sunshine State. Those numbers show 93 more deaths since Sunday and an additional 280 people requiring hospital care.

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