Taylor surpasses 1,000 COVID cases

Posted on August 14, 2020

Taylor County officially surpassed 1,000 reported positive coronavirus cases this week, more than four months after the county began accumulating cases following the first reported case here on April 2.

Taylor County’s recent surge of positive coronavirus cases appeared to have slowed as of Thursday, with just 83 new cases being reported over the past five days — in comparison to the 536 local cases that flooded the Department of Health (DOH) COVID-19 dashboard from August 3 to August 7.

According to the local Florida Department of Health in Taylor County (DOH-Taylor), the significant increase was the result of a coronavirus outbreak at Taylor Correctional Institution (TCI).

COVID-positive inmates (613) account for more than 59% of Taylor County’s total cases.

Additionally, 11 TCI employees have tested positive, bringing TCI’s total number of positive cases to 624.

Of Taylor County’s 1,027 total cases, 27 (3%) have been hospitalized and five people (1%) who previously tested positive have died.

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