On the day when Florida reported that close to 2.13 million Sunshine State residents had completed the COVID-19 vaccine process, 96 more Floridians and 13 more local residents lost their battle with the fast-spreading virus.
Eight of the latest local fatalities were in Lake County and the other five were residents of Marion County. They are among the 1,708 tri-county area deaths, the 32,639 in Florida and the 529,849 across the country, Florida Department of Health and Johns Hopkins University statistics show.
As of Thursday, Florida was reporting COVID-19 vaccine doses being administered to 3,895,656 Floridians. Of those, 1,766,109 had received the first dose and 2,129,547 had received the complete vaccine.
All told, Florida is reporting 1,962,651 cases – an increase of 5,065 from Wednesday to Thursday. Of those, 1,926,494 are residents. A total of 81,861 COVID-19 cases have been reported in long-term care centers and 31,169 in correctional facilities. Across the state, 81,763 people have been hospitalized.
Locally, 36 new COVID-19 cases were reported Thursday in and around The Villages. Those include:
- The Villages (Sumter, Lake and Marion counties) up 13 for a total of 4,292;
- Leesburg up 8 for a total of 3,902;
- Lady Lake up 4 for a total of 1,525;
- Fruitland Park up 4 for a total of 696;
- Summerfield up 4 for a total of 1,759;
- Lady Lake portion of Sumter County up 2 for a total of 130; and
- Belleview up 1 for a total of 1,221.
Below is a breakdown of other COVID-19 activity in the local area:
TRI-COUNTY AREA
- Cases: 61,885 – increase of 133
- Deaths: 1,708
- Hospitalizations: 3,689
SUMTER COUNTY
- Cases: 8,269 – increase of 22
- Deaths: 242
- Hospitalizations: 519
- Areas/cities with most cases: The Villages (3,937), Wildwood (965), Bushnell (871), Coleman (833) and Oxford (466).
LAKE COUNTY
- Cases: 25,378 – increase of 66
- Deaths: 584
- Hospitalizations: 1,339
- Cities with most cases: Clermont (6,645), Leesburg (3,902), Eustis (2,235), Mount Dora (1,915) and Tavares (1,839). The Villages also is reporting 174 cases.
MARION COUNTY
- Cases: 28,238 – increase of 45
- Deaths: 882
- Hospitalizations: 1,831
- Cities with most cases: Ocala (20,732), Summerfield (1,759), Dunnellon (1,276), Belleview (1,221) and Silver Springs (599). The Villages also is reporting 181 cases.
