Marion County announces increase in COVID-19 cases

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Ocala, Florida—Marion County is reporting 13,462 cumulative cases of COVID-19 as of this afternoon. This is an increase of 182 cases from yesterday (Dec. 2). Of Marion COVID-19 tests from Dec. 2, 11.3% were positive. The daily positivity rate for all new COVID-19 tests in Florida on Dec. 2 was 8.2%.

Marion’s cases and daily positivity rates are climbing from where they were in September and October. From COVID-19 cases reported over the past 7 days (Nov. 27 to Dec.3), Marion saw an average of:

–        102.4 new cases reported per day

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

–        9.8% daily positivity rate

–        1 COVID-19 related death reported per day

From Nov. 1 to Nov. 30, Marion saw an average of:

–        70.6 new cases reported per day

–        7.9% daily positivity rate

–        1 COVID-19 related death reported per day

From cases reported Oct. 1 to Oct. 31, Marion saw an average of:

–        37.2 new cases reported per day

–        4.6% daily positivity rate

–        1.9 COVID-19 related deaths reported per day

 CDC announces COVID-19 vaccination phases

On Tuesday, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) announced interim guidance for the allocation of initial supplies of COVID-19 vaccine. ACIP is a committee within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that provides advice and guidance on effective control of vaccine-preventable diseases in the U.S. ACIP recommended that health care personnel and long-term care facility residents receive the first available doses of COVID-19 vaccine during Phase 1 of the three-phase vaccination strategy. The committee broke the Phase 1 strategy into three steps:

–       Phase 1a: Health care personnel (for example, hospitals, long-term care facilities, outpatient clinics, home health care, pharmacies, emergency medical services, and public health) and long-term care facility residents (such as skilled nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, and other residential care)

–       Phase 1b: Essential workers (for example, the education sector, food and agriculture, utilities, police, firefighters, corrections officers, and transportation)

–       Phase1c: Adults with high-risk medical conditions and adults ages 65 and older.

You can find out more about ACIP and the COVID-19 vaccination recommendations, including presentations from the Dec. 1 announcement, at cdc.gov/vaccines/acip.