With an apparently record-breaking record set almost daily across Florida, it’s no surprise that the state sets a new one-week high as COVID-19’s unbridled control explodes. And right in that mix is Polk County.
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With an apparently record-breaking record set almost daily across Florida, it’s no surprise that the state sets a new one-week high as COVID-19’s unbridled control explodes.
And right in that mix, like many of Florida’s other 66 counties, is Polk.
Florida reported 8,530 new cases of coronavirus on Sunday, bringing the grand total to 141,075 positive tests since the outbreak began in March. The death toll is 3,419, 29 more than the previous day.
In the last seven reports from the Florida Department of Health, the state saw 43,784 new reported cases of COVID-19 (an average of more than 6,200 per day), the highest amount in a one-week period since the pandemic began.
Ditto Polk.
With an increase of 313 cases in the past 24 hours, the county total has risen to 3,495. In last week’s reports from state health officials, Polk has seen a record increase of 1,474 cases (an average of 211 per day).
Interestingly, that increase began on June 21 with a record 182 cases. That was exceeded by 212 in the notice on Friday and again on Saturday with what was initially reported as 404 cases.
However, on Sunday, FDOH modified the Polk total reported on Saturday to 462 cases (now an official increase of 118% in 24 hours over the previous high total) and decreased the actual increase in cases in the last report to 257. So Confusing as the data release is from the state, the numbers continue to reflect the spread of community in the county.
Polk also added another death on Sunday, which was the 13th in the past four days. The last fatality was a 100-year-old man. Of Polk’s current 93 deaths, at least 64 were residents of long-term care facilities. That number is the eighth highest in the state.
Another troubling statistic is the increase in Polk’s positive test rate. With 6% on Wednesday, the overall rate increased to 7.8% on Sunday. The county was 10.6% in the last report and a record 18.5% on Saturday, after the state modified the case totals, and has been in double digits in eight of the past 10 days.
The weekend was the first time that Polk’s overall positivity rate was higher than the state average, which is currently 7.5%.
The average age reported by Polk for Sunday’s general cases, now at 40, was also for the first time lower than the state average, which is 41.
As Florida rose to the national spotlight among states that saw dramatic increases in cases, Vice President Mike Pence canceled the events of the Florida re-election campaign, including Thursday in Lake Wales. But Pence will travel to the state July 2 to meet with Governor Ron DeSantis and health officials, according to the Associated Press.
DeSantis addressed the surge in positive COVID-19 infections the state has seen this month at a press conference on Friday.
He said the increase is not unexpected since testing has increased especially among younger Floridians. 1,883,244 people have been evaluated so far.
DeSantis said he would like to see the positivity rate drop again, reiterating that he follows safe guidelines that include clean hygiene, social distance, and knowing when to wear a mask. “We are going to trust people to make good decisions,” he said, adding that he has no plans to require the use of masks.
In Polk County, Lakeland continued to see cases on the rise with 98 others reported on Sunday, taking the city total to a county high of 1,148. Lakeland is number 22 in the state for most positive tests, just behind Miami Beach (1,192) in Miami-Dade County.
Cities in Polk with confirmed cases have risen to 35. Lakeland tops all cities in the county, jumping to number 22 among the top 25 cities in the state on positive tests with 98 new cases reaching 1,148. Number 21 on the list is Miami Beach at 1,192. Winter Haven is next at 759 followed by Davenport at 269, Bartow at 225, Haines City at 153, Lake Wales at 145, Auburndale at 138, Kissimmee at 132, Mulberry at 118, Fort Meade at 95, Frostproof at 58, Lake Alfred at 35, Polk City at 27, Eagle Lake at 26, Poinciana at 12, Dundee at 11 each, Babson Park at 9, Waverly at 7, Kathleen at 4, Wahneta, Lake Hamilton and Homeland at 3 each, and Loughman, Eloise, Alturas, Eaton Park, Indian Lake, Highland City, Cypress Gardens, Po, Gastonia, ChampionsGate, Gibsonia, Bradley and Clermont with 1 each.
More than 10 million people worldwide have tested positive for COVID-19, and almost 500,000 have died. In the United States, there are more than 2.5 million reported cases with more than 125,000 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Paola Pérez of the Orlando Sentinel and Associated Press contributed to this report.
