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

ORLANDO, Fla. – As Florida prepares to expand its vaccination eligibility to include everyone over the age of 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 the age of 30 because of this trend, according to Dr. Raul Pino of the Florida Department of Health in Orange County.

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People in the 18-25 age group also fill several hospital beds after being infected with the virus. Orange County reported on Thursday that people aged 45 and under account for a third of COVID-19 hospitalizations.

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

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said Thursday that the site should close on March 31, but realized the demand for testing is still strong.

The site is open seven days a week between 9:00 and 17:00 and offers both fast tests and PCR virus tests.

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Recently, approximately 800 to 1,000 tests have been 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 Thursday morning’s hospital briefing and said that if you have COVID-19 and you recover, you can get infected again.

“We see people re-infected with COVID-19. People who have been infected in the fall, we see about five to seven cases a week at the Care Center of people entering, ”Hendrix said.

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

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

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News 6 asked the Florida Department of Health if they were watching for reinfections, and I didn’t hear back.

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

Find the state-run COVID-19 dashboard below:

Cases

The Florida Department of Health reported 5,759 new cases on Friday, bringing the state’s 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 640 non-residents who died in Florida.

hospitalization

As of Friday afternoon, they existed now 2,863 people with the virus were hospitalized in Florida, according to the State Agency for Healthcare Administration.

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

Positivity rate

The percentage of positive results was 5.69% Thursday from 101,236 tests. The numbers 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 has control over the virus and fights infections.

Vaccinations

The Florida Department of Health began launching a daily report in December on statewide COVID-19 vaccines.

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

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Starting Friday, 5,475,209 people have received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine.

Below is the county-by-county breakdown of the new cases starting Friday.

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