Gov. DeSantis, Orlando Health: Central Florida appears to pass COVID-19 peak

According to data from Orlando Health, it’s believed that Central Florida may have hit its coronavirus peak at the beginning of April.

During a press conference at Orlando Regional Medical Center Sunday, April 26, Orlando Health CEO David Strong said the largest number of COVID-19 patients the organization had was 54 on April 8. As of April 26, that number was 13.

“Orlando Health has about 2,400 beds across our system,” Strong said. “Our normal census on a day like today would be about 2,100. This morning, the census was 1,300.”

Looking at the number of COVID-19 patients on ventilators, Strong said the largest number Orlando Health had to date was 26. On April 26, that number dropped to six.

“Certainly the peak, we believe, has passed,” Strong said. “If you look at our primary region — which is a four-county area, 2.6 million population — that high of new cases was April 1 at 146. Yesterday, for that same (Metropolitan Statistical Area), it was 21 new cases. … The trending follows that … the peak was around the first or second week of April. Right now, the curve is still going down.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said during the conference Central Florida has been successful in weathering the pandemic locally.

“I remember speaking with David several weeks ago and he said, ‘Yeah, our data shows that the cases peaked at the beginning of April, and we think the hospitalizations peaked a few days after that,’” DeSantis said. “If you look at the data, the hospitalizations on April 7, the total hospitalizations for Orange County was 116. Now, as of last night, they were down to 68. Just as they analyzed it, it peaked. It’s gone down.”

To view Orlando Health's video of the press conference, click here.