MARION COUNTY, Fla. — Marion County has seen a major spike in COVID-19 cases in Marion County, but there are still no plans to make face masks mandatory.
In the past month, positive COVID-19 cases have spiked in Marion County. On June 1, the county had 250 cases. Now it’s closing in on 1,000.
The city of Ocala and Marion County both told Eyewitness News that neither have plans as of right now to make masks mandatory.
Health officials said they have discussed a mask mandate with Marion County leaders, but so far, one hasn’t been put into place.
Health administrator Mark Lander said they are seeing “a much younger population being affected.”
“When this first started, we were looking at a median age of around 57. And now when you look at what we’re seeing in the community, we’re down to around 40 years old as a median age,” Lander said. “So we’re seeing a lot more of the younger (population), between 18 to 35, that are being affected.”
Lander said the spike can be attributed to younger people not taking precautions, like wearing masks.