As Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis continued to promise Wednesday that Florida residents 65 and older will be the priority for COVID-19 vaccines once healthcare workers and long-term care residents are inoculated, four more local residents lost their battle with the deadly virus and the state saw a significant spike in the number of new cases.
DeSantis was in The Villages on Tuesday making the same promise to go against a suggestion from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that would place the priority on residents 75 and older and essential workers rather than those 65 and above. He cited the example of a 22-year-old food service worker possibly getting a vaccine over a 74-year-old grandmother if Florida followed the recommended CDC guideline.
“Our vaccines are going to be targeted for our elderly population,” he promised Tuesday during his press conference at UF Health The Villages Hospital. “We are not going to put young healthy workers ahead of our elderly vulnerable population.”
On Wednesday, the tri-county area reported four more fatalities from the virus – three in Marion County and one in Sumter County. Those victims are among the 843 in the local area, the 21,173 across Florida and the 324,674 across the country.
Locally, a total of 131 new COVID-19 cases were reported Wednesday in and around The Villages. Those include:
- The Villages (Sumter, Lake and Marion counties) up 43 for a total of 1,973;
- Leesburg up 25 for a total of 2,216;
- Summerfield up 23 for a total of 926;
- Lady Lake up 13 for a total of 774;
- Fruitland Park up 10 for a total of 374;
- Wildwood up 7 for a total of 632;
- Belleview up 6 for a total of 647; and
- Oxford up 4 for a total of 257.
Below is a breakdown of other COVID-19 activity in the local area:
TRI-COUNTY AREA
- Cases: 35,087 – increase of 393
- Deaths: 843
- Hospitalizations: 2,620
SUMTER COUNTY
- Cases: 4,589 – increase of 55
- Deaths: 117
- Hospitalizations: 368
- Areas/cities with most cases: The Villages (1,829), Coleman (729), Wildwood (632), Bushnell (508) and Oxford (257).
LAKE COUNTY
- Cases: 14,062 – increase of 199
- Deaths: 286
- Hospitalizations: 970
- Cities with most cases: Clermont (3,731), Leesburg (2,216), Eustis (1,133), Mount Dora (1,089) and Tavares (1,087). The Villages also is reporting 86 cases.
MARION COUNTY
- Cases: 16,436 – increase of 139
- Deaths: 440
- Hospitalizations: 1,282
- Cities with most cases: Ocala (12,412), Summerfield (926), Dunnellon (698), Belleview (647) and Citra (283). The Villages is reporting 58 cases.
All told, Florida is reporting 1,234,399 cases – an increase of 11,384 from Tuesday to Wednesday. Of those, 1,213,760 are residents. A total of 62,492 cases have been reported in long-term care centers and 26,943 in correctional facilities. Across the state, there have been 21,173 deaths and 60,800 people have been hospitalized.
