What a difference a week makes. The 54 new cases of COVID-19 reported for Polk County today would have been a record high a week ago. Today it looks like a break from a week that saw three new record-breaking readings, including 183 new cases reported Monday.

Cumulative hospitalizations in Polk grew by nine to 424, an increase of nine over Monday, according to today’s update from the Florida Department of Health.

There were no new deaths reported in Polk for a third day in a row.

Two local health leaders told Lakeland city commissioners Monday that the composition of patients being treated for COVID-19 is shifting from primarily nursing home residents to a broader population as community spread takes hold in Polk.

At Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center, some of the COVID-19 patients using ventilators now in their 30s and 40s, the organization’s incoming CEO said.

A week ago the 35-44 age group had the most cases in Polk County, according to the Department of Health. Today’s report shows that the 25-34 demographic has caught up.

The overall proportion of positive tests in Polk County reached 6% today. It was at at 4.5% just eight days ago.

That dashboard is typically updated around 11 a.m., and the number represents new cases reported since the last day’s update.

Latest numbers

This morning’s COVID-19 updates from the Florida Department of Health compared with the previous day:

  • Polk confirmed cases: 2,279, an increase of 54
  • Lakeland confirmed cases: 785, an increase of 14
  • Polk deaths: 78, unchanged
  • Polk hospitalizations: 424, an increase of 9

The numbers of confirmed cases and hospitalizations are cumulative and do not reflect how many people have recovered or have been released from the hospital.

Testing in Polk

  • Total tests: 38,1607, an increase of 449
  • Positive: 2,279
  • Negative: 35,869
  • Inconclusive: 1
  • Await results: 12
  • Percent positive: 6.0%, an increase of 0.1%

Long-term care facilities

  • Deaths involving Polk facilities: 56, unchanged
  • Number of Polk facilities with reported cases: 13 on Sunday. (No new report was posted Monday or so far today.) Here’s a link to the most recent report.

Sunday’s report showed that cases associated with Lakeland Hills Center had increased from 69 to 84 since the previous Friday. Thirteen of the new cases were among residents; the other two were residents who had transferred away. There had been another increase in nine cases between Monday and Friday last week.

Lakeland facilities with high numbers as of Sunday:

  • Highlands Lake Center reports 110 cases: 81 residents who were transferred away and 29 staff.
  • Lakeland Hills Center reports 84 cases: 44 residents, 31 who transferred away and 9 staff members.
  • Grace Manor at Lake Morton reports 24 cases, all residents who were transferred away.
  • Consulate Health Care of Lakeland reports 25 cases: 10 residents, 12 who transferred away and 3 staff.

The latest weekly report of nursing home deaths, issued over the weekend, included only one new instance at a Polk facility; it was at Grace Manor at Lake Morton. Number of deaths, according to the latest report:

  • Highlands Lake Center on Lakeland Hills Boulevard: 25
  • Consulate Health Care of Lakeland on North Socrum Loop Road: 7
  • Brandywyne Health Care Center in Winter Haven: 7
  • Lakeland Hills Center on East Bella Vista Street: 6
  • Palm Garden of Winter Haven: 5
  • Grace Manor at Lake Morton on Lime Street: 5

A large majority of COVID-19 deaths in Polk County have involved people who have lived in long-term-care facilities:

More Polk County data

The Florida Department of Health is now releasing county-by-county charts. Here are today’s for Polk:

Click the image to view a larger version
Click the image to view a larger version

ZIP Codes

Cases in Lakeland ZIP codes:

33801: 104, an increase of 12 since Friday
33803: 70, an increase of 12
33805: 167, an increase of 10
33809: 71, an increase of 3
33810: 106, an increase of 15
33811: 49, an increase of 10
33812: 29, an increase of 5
33813: 150, an increase of 17
33815: 37 an increase of 3

View an interactive ZIP code map here. To find local ZIP code data, click on the “Cases by Zip Code” tab below the map and then scroll to Polk and click. Learn how ZIP code data is reported.

Cases in Polk cities

  • Lakeland, 785
  • Winter Haven, 496
  • Davenport, 172
  • Bartow, 112
  • Lake Wales, 106
  • Auburndale, 100
  • Kissimmee, 87*
  • Haines City, 82
  • Mulberry, 76
  • Fort Meade, 53
  • Frostproof, 30
  • Polk City, 21
  • Lake Alfred, 21
  • Eagle Lake, 19
  • Poinciana, 10
  • Dundee, 8
  • Waverly, 5
  • Babson Park, 5
  • Kathleen, 3
  • Wahneta, 3
  • Lake Hamilton, 3
  • Highland City, 1 (new to the list)
  • Gibsonia, 1
  • Cypress Gardens, 1
  • Bradley, 1
  • Champions Gate, 1
  • Indian Lakes Estates, 1
  • Lakeshore (formerly Fedhaven), 1
  • Clermont, 1*
  • Homeland, 1
  • No city named, 56

* While Kissimmee is in Osceola County, the Health Department classifies a portion of east Polk as Kissimmee. It maintains a separate number for the Osceola portion of Kissimmee. A similar situation exists for Clermont, which is in Lake County.

Download the latest detailed Florida report | View archived reports

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Barry Friedman founded Lkldnow.com in 2015 as the culmination of a career in print and digital journalism. Since 1982, he has used the tools of reporting, editing and content curation to help people in Lakeland understand their community better.

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