ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — The Florida Department of Health said it is working on mobile testing for ZIP codes experiencing a significant number of COVID-19 cases.
In Orange County, the area around Lee Vista Boulevard up to the north at Curry Ford Road is at the top of the list, with 56 cases of COVID-19 and counting.
“I did not expect it to be that high when we first started doing the heat maps last week,” said Mayra Uribe, Orange County District 3 commissioner.
Uribe represents three ZIP codes with the most cases, including the Azalea Park area, sparking her to do a virtual town hall with constituents this week.
Uribe said she was shocked to hear just how many people were unaware of how serious the pandemic is.
"There is a false idea that our community knows. We do not know enough and if it were true, we wouldn’t still be fielding these questions, at least at my level. District 3 also has the highest amount of people who work in hospitality,” Uribe said.
Channel 9 extracted data from the Department of Health database, the same tool Orange County health officials use to create heat maps highlighting COVID-19 hot spots based on numbers.
In Orange County, the top 10 ZIP codes include neighborhoods in Azalea Park, Bithlo, Taft, Hunter’s Creek, Lake Nona, Union Park and University Park, all in east or southeast Orange County.
On the west side of Orange County, Lake Butler, Bay Hill, Windermere, Ocoee and part of Winter Garden are included. Closer to downtown Orlando, Lake Eola Heights, Orwin Manor, Audobon Park and Baldwin Park are hot spots in the county.
In all, these 10 ZIP codes have anywhere from 28 to 56 cases.
It is not known when the Department of Health may start mobile testing in Orange County.
Cox Media Group
