Florida reports 17,000 new cases of coronavirus, 130 dead

ORLANDO, Fla. – Coronavirus vaccinations continue throughout the Sunshine State and in some counties with little or no prior notice.

In central Florida, Lake County officials warned less than 20 minutes before they began vaccinating residents and nonresidents with the COVID-19 vaccine.

The county received 12,600 doses Tuesday afternoon and made the decision to administer 800-1,000 doses Wednesday morning, making the announcement the same morning.

[Here’s how to register for the COVID-19 vaccine in Florida]

County residents have been confused after officials changed the vaccination process to not requiring an appointment and said they were unsure when more doses will be available.

An hour later, Lake County Health Department officials said the vaccination site at the Clermont Arts and Recreation Center had already reached capacity.

Health officials said that as for the distribution of vaccines, they will evaluate day by day and do not plan to announce the distribution until the day that happens.

Publix will also begin providing vaccines this week after Gov. Ron DeSantis announced a pilot program with the supermarket chain, but only in three Florida counties.

[READ MORE: Lake County gets second shipment of COVID-19 vaccine, begins giving out shots ASAP]

[READ YESTERDAY’S REPORT: Florida reports nearly 15,200 new infections as vaccine roll out continues slow progress]

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Cases

The Florida Department of Health reported 17,783 new cases on Wednesday, bringing the state total to 1,409,906 cases since March.

Deaths

Florida reported 132 new virus-related deaths Wednesday. This means that at least 22,647 people have died in connection with the coronavirus statewide, inclusive 330 non-residents who died in Florida.

[RELATED: By the numbers: Florida COVID-19 deaths by age]

Hospitalizations

As of Wednesday afternoon, there were currently 7,303 people with the virus hospitalized in Florida, according to the state agency for health care administration.

Since March, 64,321 people have been hospitalized in Florida after coronavirus complications. This number includes 439 patients who have recently been hospitalized because of the virus, according to the health department’s daily report.

Positivity rate

The percentage of positive results ranged from 8.02% to 23.25% in the last two weeks and was 12.59% on Tuesday.

Health officials say the rate should be kept between 5% and 10% to show that a community has the virus and is curbing infections.

Vaccines

Recently, the Florida Department of Health began publishing a daily report on COVID-19 vaccines administered statewide. As of Wednesday afternoon, 329,060 people have been vaccinated in Florida.

See COVID-19 data for the Central Florida region below:

county	Cases	New cases	Hospitalizations	New hospitalizations	Deaths	New deaths
Brevard	22,669	305	1,483	29	526	1
Flagler	4,079	61	239	6	48	0
lake	16,897	200	996	7	331	-5
Marion	19,199	228	1,376	21	495	6
orange	82,155	993	2006	25	776	13
Osceola	27.113	386	1.103	6	297	2
Polk	40,361	622	3,389	16	814	5
Seminol	19,539	326	925	3	317	0
Sumter	5,634	126	388	3	122	0
Volusia	24,205	414	1,296	3	458	0

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