Polk County sees 24 COVID-19 deaths in past week

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POLK COUNTY, Fla. — Polk County is seeing a higher COVID-19 death rate than anywhere else in Central Florida, according to the state health department.

Since Monday, 17 people have died from COVID-19 in Polk County, compared to four people in the same time frame in Orange County.

In the last week, 24 people have died in Polk County. By comparison, five have died in Orange County.

Read: Senator says it’s ‘irresponsible’ that Florida doesn’t have statewide face mask mandate

Overall, 122 people have died in Polk County since the start of the pandemic.

Polk County has about 5,900 cases compared to more than 15,000 in Orange County.

Read: As Florida’s COVID-19 cases surge, tracing falls behind

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