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

ORLANDO, Fla. – Coronavirus vaccination continues throughout the Sunshine State and in some counties with little or no warning.

In Central Florida, Lake County officials gave less than 20 minutes notice before starting to immunize residents and non-residents with the COVID-19 vaccine.

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

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

County residents were confused after authorities changed the vaccination process to not require an appointment and said they were not sure when more doses would be available.

An hour later, officials from the Lake County Health Department said the vaccine site at Clermont Arts & Recreation Center had already reached maximum capacity.

Health officials said that, regarding the distribution of the vaccine, they will do a daily evaluation and do not plan to announce the distribution until the day it happens.

Publix is ​​also due to start supplying vaccines this week, after Governor 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 grand total for the state to 1,409,906 cases since March.

Deaths

Florida reported 132 new virus-related deaths Wednesday. This means that at least 22,647 people died from coronavirus across the state, including 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 Health Administration Agency.

Since March, 64,321 people were hospitalized in Florida after coronavirus complications. That number includes 439 recently hospitalized because of the virus, reports the health department’s diary.

Positive 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 remain between 5% and 10% to prove that a community contains the virus and is reducing infections.

Vaccines

The Florida Department of Health recently started releasing a daily report on COVID-19 vaccines administered across the state. 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	2,006	25	776	13
Osceola	27,113	386	1,103	6	297	two
Polk	40,361	622	3,389	16	814	5
Seminole	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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