Over the past few months, we’ve seen a variety of changes in Central Florida as the area relaxed health and safety guidelines put in place for COVID-19.
While the area had seen a downturn in the number of cases, that number has now reportedly started to rise.
According to the the Orlando Sentinel, Central Florida reported a 63% increase in cases  last week.” This is attributed in part to the highly contagious delta variant. The cases reported have mostly affected Orange County residents between the ages of 15-34.
In Orange County, the positivity rate (the percent of people who test positive for COVID-19 compared to all the people who are tested) is 5.9%, which is slightly above the 5% target rate in all counties. The state of Florida accounted for 15% of the United States’ new cases reported last week, more than any other state.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, epidemiologist Jason Salemi reported that it’s not yet clear if the new data represents a trend or a “one-time spike”, though he notes there are few factors that point towards a continued rise. Salemi noted that the delta variant, which is now the dominant COVID-19 strain in the U.S., will continue to be increasingly prevalent amongst unvaccinated communities.
As of June 30th, there have been 280 cases of the delta variant reported in the state of Florida, with 40 specifically reported from Florida’s Orange County.
We’ll continue to keep you updated on the situation. Stay tuned to AllEars for the latest Florida and Disney World news.
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The number of deaths per 7 days continue to decline, though, so we should not panic.
This can be attributed to almost 80% of people over 65 years of age being fully vaccinated and nearly 60% of all people over 18 are fully vaccinated. Overall cases have increased 16% based on the 7 day average, but deaths are down 25%. These numbers are actually promising. Variants of the virus will be around for a long time, but it should be no more lethal than the flu.