As Central Florida leaders consider new strategies to stop the spread of the deadly coronavirus, they also have discussed the region’s future and look hopefully at one day reopening the tourist industry, which last year brought record numbers of visitors from across the globe. Statewide, as the economic devastation from the pandemic intensifies, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday that laid-off workers , frustrated with Florida’s failing unemployment system, should get money going back to the day they tried to file. National jobless claims in the last week hit 6.6 million, meaning nearly 10% of the workforce became unemployed in the last three weeks. In Florida, though, initial jobless claims were less than the previous week, but that may be due to laid-off workers unable to access the state’s overwhelmed unemployment system. Florida’s death toll passed 350 — including two new deaths in Volusia County — at what could be the beginning of a surge that may not relent until summer. The state now has 16,364 cases and 354 deaths — an increase of 31 deaths since Tuesday night and 666 more cases. Nationwide, with over 432,000 cases, the U.S. death toll is approaching 15,000. Worldwide, there are over 1.5 million cases and just under 90,000 fatalities, according to the Johns Hopkins University & Medicine Coronavirus Resource Center . Orange County leads the Central Florida region with 857 cases, followed by Osceola’s 295, Seminole’s 228, Polk’s 212, Volusia’s 179, Lake’s 139, Brevard’s 106 and Sumter’s 98. Central Florida’s death toll stands at 38 as of Thursday morning. The region’s two newest deaths, both in Volusia County, involved a 79-year-old man who had traveled to Aruba and Curacao, and an 84-year-old man whose case was not travel related. ( See details on all Central Florida cases here ). The testing site […]
