Young adults seeing higher infection rates as Florida reports 5,759 new cases of COVID-19

ORLANDO, Fla. – As Florida prepares to expand its vaccine eligibility to include everyone over 18 on April 5, Orange County is reporting an increase in cases among young adults.

The county’s average age for new infections has dropped to 30 years because of this trend, according to Dr. Raul Pino, of the Florida Department of Health in Orange County.

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People aged 18 to 25 are also filling more hospital beds after being infected with the virus. Orange County reported on Thursday that people 45 and under are responsible for a third of COVID-19 hospitalizations.

While this younger segment of the population awaits eligibility for the vaccine, the COVID-19 rapid test site in Barnett Park has received another extension that will allow it to remain open until the end of April.

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said on Thursday that the site was due to close on March 31, but noted that the demand for tests is still strong.

The site operates seven days a week, from 9 am to 5 pm, and offers rapid virus testing and PCR.

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Recently, about 800 to 1,000 tests were performed each day.

At the same time, doctors in Central Florida are warning people about COVID-19 reinfections.

Dr. Tim Hendrix, medical director of AdventHealth Centra Care, attended the hospital’s morning briefing on Thursday and said that if you had COVID-19 and recovered, you could still be reinfected.

“We see people reinfected with COVID-19. People who were infected in the fall, we are seeing about five to seven cases a week at Centra Care of people coming in, ”said Hendrix.

Hendrix said that the immunity you gain after recovering from the coronavirus is not sufficient to fully protect you from being infected again.

“You have some immunity, but it’s not necessarily perfect from a natural infection, so you shouldn’t be relying on a natural infection,” said Hendrix.

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News 6 asked the Florida Department of Health if they are tracking reinfections and we have had no response.

[READ YESTERDAY’S REPORT: DeSantis announces vaccine eligibility expansion as Florida reports 5,803 new COVID-19 cases ]

Find the state-owned COVID-19 control panel below:

Cases

The Florida Department of Health reported 5,759 new cases on Friday, bringing the state’s grand total to 2,033,179 cases since the virus was first detected on March 1, 2020.

Deaths

Florida reported 167 new virus-related deaths on Friday, bringing the death toll to 33,756. This number includes the 640 non-residents who died in Florida.

Hospitalizations

On Friday afternoon, there were currently 2,863 people with the virus hospitalized in Florida, according to the state Health Administration Agency.

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Since last March, 84,406 people have been hospitalized in Florida after complications from COVID-19. This number includes the 203 new patients who were recently hospitalized for the virus, according to the daily health department report released on Friday.

Positivity rate

The percentage of positive results was 5.69% Thursday of 101,236 tests. The figures reported daily by the state reflect the results of the previous day’s tests. 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 began releasing a daily report in December on COVID-19 vaccines administered across the state.

FDOH reports 3,004,403 people are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. These individuals received the Johnson & Johnson single dose vaccine or completed a series of two doses.

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On Friday, 5,475,209 people received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine.

Below is the county by county breakdown of the new cases on Friday.

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