A Florida Department of Health report released Sunday shows that 9.5 percent of children who have been tested in the tri-county area have been identified with the potentially deadly COVID-19 virus.

Statistics included in the report show that 2,034 children under the age of 18 in the local area have tested positive for the virus, which represents about 8 percent of the overall number of cases – 25,777 – reported in the tri-county area.

On Sunday, 981 minors in Marion County were being reported as positive for COVID-19, along with 901 from Lake County and 152 from Sumter County. A total of 19,438 juveniles have been tested in the local area – 9,490 in Marion County, 8,849 in Lake County and 1,099 in Sumter County.

Sumter County has the highest positivity rate at 12.2 percent, followed by Marion County with 9.4 percent and Lake County at 9.2 percent, according to the Florida Department of Health report.

Across Florida, there have been 82,985 positive results among the 614,108 minors who have been tested. That amounts to a positivity rate of 11.9 percent across the state, which is higher than the 9.5 percent rate in the tri-county area.

There have been nine deaths among minors in Florida – two in the 5-10 age group, three in the 11-13 age group and four in the 14-17 age group. Also, 923 children have been hospitalized with the illness.

The breakdown by age of those minors reported with COVID-19 across Florida is:

  • Under 1 years old – 3,740 cases (5 percent);
  • 1-4 years old – 11,834 cases (14 percent);
  • 5-10 years old – 22,321 cases (27 percent);
  • 11-13 years old – 14,724 cases (18 percent); and
  • 14-17 years old – 30,366 cases (37 percent).

The breakdown of hospitalizations among minors across the state is:

  • Under 1 years old – 168 cases (18 percent);
  • 1-4 years old – 184 cases (20 percent);
  • 5-10 years old – 154 cases (17 percent);
  • 11-13 years old – 125 cases (14 percent); and
  • 14-17 years old – 292 cases (32 percent).