Two Central Florida counties exceed 1,000 deaths from COVID-19

ORLANDO, Fla. – Both Polk and Orange counties reported their 1,000 coronavirus-related deaths since the pandemic began on Friday. The two counties have more than 1,000 fatalities each.

This happens when Florida seniors still have difficulty booking appointments for the COVID-19 vaccine. Getting an appointment to receive the COVID-19 vaccine can be anything but quick and painless.

A Florida woman is helping people she never met to get on the coveted list.

Jenn Greenberg has helped dozens of seniors she has never met to navigate the confusing and often chaotic process of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Greenberg is part of a 120-member volunteer force that helps Florida residents age 65 and older remove the huge hurdles of poorly organized, technology-dependent state-run registration systems. which often seems to them a foreign language.

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

Announcements

“I realized how many barriers there were, which made it very difficult to line up appointments,” Greenberg said.

She says the systems not only negatively affect the elderly, but also exacerbate income and racial disparities.

Florida Representative Anna Eskamani (D-Orlando) says richer communities already see greater vaccination coverage than lower-income neighborhoods.

Click or tap here for more information on the Greenburg initiative to help vaccinate the elderly.

New federal efforts will soon be able to improve the distribution of vaccines, as the Pentagon will deploy more than 1,100 troops to five vaccination centers in what will be the first wave of major military support for the White House campaign to get more Americans are inoculated against COVID-19.

Announcements

Two of the five new military teams will go to open vaccination centers in California. Senior coronavirus adviser Andy Slavitt said military personnel will arrive at these locations in just over a week. Three additional centers are expected to be announced soon.

[READ YESTERDAY’S REPORT: Florida reports 7,000 new COVID-19 cases as counties work to keep vaccine secure]

Cases

The Florida Department of Health reported 10,946 new cases on Friday, bringing the state’s total to 1,763,873 cases since the coronavirus pandemic began in March.

Deaths

Florida reported 215 new virus-related deaths on Friday, bringing the death toll to 27,913. This number includes the file 456 non-residents who died in Florida.

Announcements

Hospitalizations

As of Friday afternoon, there were currently 5,428 people with the virus hospitalized in Florida, according to the state health care administration agency.

Since March, 73,970 people have been hospitalized in Florida following complications from COVID-19. This number includes the new 339 patients who have recently been hospitalized because of the virus, according to the health department’s daily report released Friday.

Positivity rate

The percentage of positive results was 5.8% for the 188,606 tests reported in the state. Health officials say the rate should be kept between 5% and 10% to show that a community has the virus and is curbing infections.

Announcements

Vaccines

Recently, the Florida Department of Health began publishing a daily report on COVID-19 vaccines administered statewide.

As of Friday afternoon, 1,894,209 people have been vaccinated in Florida. The FDOH also reports that 554,502 people have received their second shot.

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

county	Cases	New cases	Hospitalizations	New hospitalizations	Deaths	New deaths
Brevard	30,459	306	1,840	7	666	3
Flagler	5,447	42	303	2	73	0
lake	22,500	189	1,170	11	459	6
Marion	25,221	218	1,590	18	649	7
orange	105,725	736	2.243	11	1.001	11
Osceola	34,315	216	1,211	4	384	-1
Polk	52,029	399	4,013	16	1,008	17
Seminol	24,764	129	1,057	5	386	1
Sumter	7,323	42	441	2	206	19
Volusia	31,863	187	1,557	10	542	1

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