From Staff Reports
The delta variant strain of COVID-19 continues to rage in the United States, particularly in Florida. On Friday, the state department of health (FDOH) reported 134,506 new COVID-19 cases over the last week, more than any other seven-day period during the pandemic.
About 20% of the COVID-19 cases have originated in Florida over the past two weeks, although the state accounts for less than 7% of the US population.
After Friday's report, Florida has the second-highest rate of new cases per capita (after Louisiana) with about 90 new cases per 100,000 people each day over the past week. The FDOH reported 175 deaths and a new case positivity rate of 18.9%.
In Apopka, Mayor Bryan Nelson made a plea to the unvaccinated.
"Folks, it's bad," Nelson said at the Wednesday City Council meeting during a grim report on the state of COVID-19 in Apopka. "I'd like to reach out to those who have had any hesitation to get the COVID vaccination. I can tell you now is the time to get it."
Nelson described ambulances waiting 3-4 hours to get patients into the emergency room due to the amount of COVID-19 patients. That wait time has since dropped to 34 minutes. He also confirmed that vaccinated City employees have tested positive for COVID-19, but said the symptoms and outcomes were far worse for the unvaccinated.
"I got a graph from Chief Wylam that there is a 90% reduction in hospitalizations and a 99.9% reduction in deaths for folks who are vaccinated versus unvaccinated," Nelson said. "So please, if you have any hesitation, please get the vaccination for not only yourself, but your family, and friends. It's just critical that we get this done."
Due to the increase in the Delta variant/COVID-19 cases, the City closed public access to the City Hall Lobby, the Utility Billing Lobby, the Police Department Lobby, and the Fire Department Lobbies.
Those closures remain in effect until Friday, August 13th.
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