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COVID-19 infection spots harder to pinpoint, Orange County officials say

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orange County officials said it’s become difficult to know where people are now getting infected with COVID-19.

Residents and visitors are mobile and busy, they said, making it impossible to trace infections to a single type of  source, such as bars or holiday celebrations.

They can no longer say it’s from the bars or Memorial Day weekend celebrations. And since people are so mobile and out doing so much, it’s impossible to pinpoint one place or person.

“Coronavirus

“If the asymptomatic people think they are healthy and OK, we don’t know if this virus is doing something to their bodies and organs,” Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said. “If you think you’re safe because you’re not showing symptoms … even if you have people in your life that, if they get the illness they could die, we need to stay safe and we need to stay strong.”

Read: ‘Don’t shut her down’: Anti-mask protesters rally behind Windermere restaurant after owner says she wouldn’t require face masks

Some health leaders in Florida say we could still be several days, if not weeks, away from our COVID-19 numbers peaking.

Daily increases of new positive test results reflect people who were tested anywhere from two to 12 days ago, not the day before.

Orange County is approaching 20,000 cases. On Monday alone, nearly 1,000 new cases were added. Going into June, Orange County had 2,000 cases.

Read: Florida VFWs face unclear future after confusion over shutting down

Another reason the numbers could be increasing locally, the Department of Health says, is because the MLS and NBA teams are being counted in with Orange County, and they are working to get those numbers separated.

Read: The bubble awaits: NBA teams set to start Disney arrivals

Sunday marked not just the highest number of cases for a single day in Florida, but the highest number of cases for any state since the beginning of the pandemic.

Adam Poulisse, WFTV.com

Adam Poulisse joined WFTV in November 2019.