Orange County: 'Next two weeks are critical' as COVID-19 cases expected to peak by end of April

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. - Orange County leaders are urging people to stay home as much as possible over the next two weeks as the county will likely reach peak COVID-19 cases by the end of April.

Dr. Raul Pino with the Florida Department of Health in Orange County said the prediction is based on their data. Dr. Pino said cases will be the highest before the peak and anyone who is out over the next two weeks has an even greater risk of being infected.

“The next two weeks are critical as our numbers increase, they tend to double every three and a half days,” Dr. Pino said. “So we can foresee if we haven’t peaked yet. We are going to see our numbers in the thousands.”

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Orange County said about 10 percent of its coronavirus tests were coming back positive. As of Monday evening, the county had tested 7,265 people for COVID-19 and of those tested, 754 people tested confirmed positive for the virus. The most cases are in zip code 32822, with at least 51 confirmed cases. Officials anticipate Orange County will have 1,000 coronavirus cases by the end of the week.

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said the county is preparing for an increase in cases and he is confident hospitals have enough capacity for an influx of patients. 

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“We are working with the state who is working with federal government so that when we hit that critical mass period of time, we have a plan that will contemplate everything that is needed at that time,” Mayor Demings said.

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The mayor also said county leaders are thinking of places where people can quarantine as they expect more cases. Mayor Demings said a hotel has already offered rooms.

Demings said, “We are looking at other facilities within our area and dependent upon that gap between existing capacity and the surge capacity will drive which facilities here within our region are most appropriate.”