ORLANDO, Fla. — “We are now in crisis mode,” Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said on Monday.
He said during the county’s COVID-19 briefing that Orange County is recording nearly 1,000 new cases daily. Those numbers are comparable to what the county saw at the highest peak last year.
>>>CLICK HERE TO WATCH EYEWITNESS NEWS LIVE<<<
He said as of Saturday, Orange County’s 14-day rolling positivity rate was roughly 14%. On June 28, it was 4.28%.
READ: COVID-19 hospitalizations near all-time high at AdventHealth, officials say
Demings said the county’s positivity rate has more than tripled in less than a month.
READ: Central Florida sees rise in COVID-19 variant cases, hospitalizations
During the briefing, Dr. Victor Herrera with AdventHealth said in-patient numbers of COVID-19 cases are reaching an all-time high. He said capacity is being stretched to its limits, forcing AdventHealth to move its status to level red. Click here for details on what that means.
Officials said right now the majority of the COVID-19 cases are in those ages 15 to 44.
Health officials are pushing again for people to get vaccinated saying without vaccinations we may not be able to bring the numbers down for a while.
READ: The heat is on, rain chances increase Monday
One local doctor told Eyewitness News the COVID-19 case numbers are going in the wrong direction.
“We were seeing a light at the end of a dark and very long tunnel; that light at the end of the tunnel is getting dimmer,” said infectious disease specialist, Dr. Aftab Khan.
WFTV dug into the numbers.
READ: Coronavirus: CDC considering mask recommendation for the vaccinated
From July 9 to July 15, Orange, Brevard, Volusia, Seminole, Osceola, Lake and Marion Counties ranged from 3,648 cases to 652.
One week later -- the week of July 16 to July 22 -- the same counties ranged from 5,356 to 1,506 cases of COVID-19.
READ: Woman in her 20s found shot to death inside car in Apopka, deputies say
“Our numbers were below 3.8% and now currently we’re over 12% in the state of Florida,” said Dr. Khan.