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

ORLANDO, Fla. – Coronavirus vaccinations continue throughout the Sunshine State and in some provinces without prior notice.

In Central Florida, Lake County officials gave less than 20 minutes notice before starting to immunize residents and nonresidents 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, with the announcement made the same morning.

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

Residents in the province became confused after officials changed the vaccination process to avoid making appointments, saying they were unsure when more doses would become available.

An hour later, Lake County Department of Health officials said the vaccination facility at the Clermont Arts & Recreation Center was already full.

Regarding vaccine distribution, health officials said they will be evaluating on a day-to-day basis and have no intention of announcing distribution until the day it happens.

Publix will also begin providing vaccinations this week after Gov. 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 state’s total total to 1,409,906 fallen since March.

Deaths

Florida reported 132 new virus-related deaths Wednesday. This means that across the state, at least 22,647 people have died in connection with the coronavirus, including 330 non-residents who died in Florida.

[RELATED: By the numbers: Florida COVID-19 deaths by age]

Hospital admissions

On Wednesday afternoon there were currently 7,303 people with the virus have been hospitalized in Florida, according to the State Agency for Health Care Administration.

As of March 64,321 people have been hospitalized in Florida after complications from the coronavirus. That number includes the 439 patients recently hospitalized for the virus, according to the Health Department’s Daily Report.

Positivity rate

The percentage of positive results ranged from 8.02% to 23.25% over the past two weeks and was 12.59% Tuesday.

Health officials say the rate should stay between 5% and 10% to prove that a community has a hold on the virus and is keeping infections in check.

Vaccinations

The Florida Department of Health recently began publishing a daily report on COVID-19 vaccines being administered statewide. On Wednesday afternoon, 329,060 people were vaccinated in Florida.

See COVID-19 data for the Central Florida region below:

Province	Cases	New cases	Hospital admissions	New hospital admissions	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	2
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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