Hundreds hospitalized in Orange County due to COVID-19, new data shows

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — There were 7,000 COVID-19 patients in hospitals across the state as of Friday night, including hundreds in Central Florida, according to the Agency for Health Care Administration.

It marked the first time the state has released details of how many people are in hospitals for COVID-19, and comes amid a surge of cases and reports hospitals are approaching capacity.

Here’s a breakdown of Central Florida’s COVID-19 hospitalizations per county:

• Orange ranks fourth with 475 hospitalizations
• Osceola is ninth with 183
• Seminole is 10th with 164
• Volusia has 135 COVID-19 patients in their hospitals
• Lake has 124 hospitalizations
• Brevard ranks 16th with 112 patients

The dashboard only counts people who are hospitalized with COVID-19 as their primary diagnosis.

Hospitals now test every patient no matter the reason for the visit. If a patient goes to the hospital for another emergency like a broken leg or kidney stones, and then tests positive for the virus, they will not be counted in the dashboard because they aren’t suffering from coronavirus symptoms, so COVID-19 is their secondary diagnosis.

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