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18-year-old high school student who died from COVID-19 is youngest in Orange County, officials say

ORLANDO, Fla. — The youngest person to die in Orange County from COVID-19 was an 18-year-old girl, who passed away last week.

She was a senior at Freedom High School and just about to graduate.

Officials with Orange County Public Schools said she was last on campus just before Spring Break on March 12.

The health department said she had underlying health issues but did not give specifics.

Florida reported an additional 4,504 cases of coronavirus in the state on Wednesday.

The new cases include 1,109 in Central Florida.

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The increase brings the total number of cases in the state since the pandemic began to 2,258,433.

On Thursday, the state also reported an additional 73 virus-related deaths.

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Of those, 23 were reported in Central Florida. Orange County reported the largest increase in deaths, with seven reported on Thursday, followed by six in Volusia County.

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The numbers were released as Central Florida’s main theme parks -- Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando Resort and SeaWorld -- announced they would be eliminating temperature checks and reduce social distancing to three feet.

READ: SeaWorld cuts social distancing in half, phases out temperature checks

See a county-by-county breakdown of total (and new) coronavirus cases below, and click here for an interactive map of cases statewide:

ORANGE: CASES: 138,098 (+363) DEATHS: 1,268 (+7)

OSCEOLA: CASES: 44,687 (+122) DEATHS: 509 (+0)

SEMINOLE: CASES: 34,094 (+76) DEATHS: 497 (+2)

POLK: CASES: 68,632 (+199) DEATHS: 1,324 (+2)

VOLUSIA: CASES: 43,222 (+98) DEATHS: 803 (+6)

BREVARD: CASES: 41,443 (+93) DEATHS: 866 (+0)

FLAGLER: CASES: 7,294 (+12) DEATHS: 109 (+0)

LAKE: CASES: 29,661 (+68) DEATHS: 634 (+2)

MARION: CASES: 31,111 (+59) DEATHS: 964 (+4)

SUMTER CASES: 9331 (+19) DEATHS: 275 (+0)

Sarah Wilson

Sarah Wilson, WFTV.com

Sarah Wilson joined WFTV Channel 9 in 2018 as a digital producer after working as an award-winning newspaper reporter for nearly a decade in various communities across Central Florida.

Adam Poulisse, WFTV.com

Adam Poulisse joined WFTV in November 2019.

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