The total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 now stands at 694 in Oakland Park with 173 new cases this past week.
“The City of Oakland Park continues to experience an unacceptable rise in COVID-19 cases,” said Tim Lonergan, Oakland Park City Commissioner.
As of Tuesday, according to the Florida Department of Health, the total number of cases in Oakland Park now stands at 694, up from 521 a week ago — a 33% increase. The week before the number increased 52%.
“It has been reported that approximately 80% of new cases are family or household related,” Lonegran said. “Kids and young adults are socializing with their friends and bringing the virus home and infecting other members of the household.”
In the last two weeks the number of cases has doubled in the city and over the past 30 days it’s more than quadrupled. At the end of May new weekly cases in Oakland Park had slowed to a trickle.
The total cases in Oakland Park come to about 1.5% of the population. Next door in Wilton Manors it’s about 1.6%. For comparison the percentage of positive tests in Florida amounts to 1.7% of the population.
The Mayor of Oakland Park, Matthew Sparks notes that the positivity rate has also been increasing since early June – from 2% on June 2 to 22% on July 22.
"So clearly we have a problem," Sparks said.
Sparks also noted that the the contact tracing data shows people are contracting the virus at a rate of 60% from someone in the household, 20% at work, 16% unknown, 2% from trave, and 2% from July parties.
"Clearly the virus is being brought into the home from outside sources and It can only tell me that people are not masking up, people are not following safety protocols," he said. "So we’d like to drive home the three C’s which are closed spaces, crowded places and close contact settings.
Sparks reiterates everyone needs to mask up in order to get the virus under control.
"It is the safety precautions that are going to bring these his numbers down. So again we are asking the public to please be responsible and take every precaution to protect yourself and to protect others," he said. "Clearly, since we are all being affected by the actions of others we must take responsibility for ourselves."
As Broward County and the rest of the state has reopened, Florida has set multiple records for the number of daily coronavirus cases in the last 30 days. South Florida has paused much of its reopening plans while Broward County has implemented a nightly curfew and new restrictions have been placed on certain businesses.
“Our city continues its outreach efforts to urge residents and businesses to comply with the Broward County Executive Orders and always adhere to the CDC guidelines to help prevent the spread of COVID-19,” Oakland Park Public Information Officer David Rafter previously told SFGN. “We realize everyone is stressed, but we must all remain vigilant when it comes to wearing our face masks and practicing social distancing.”
According to FDOH as of Tuesday, 42,577 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Broward County — almost four times the number from 30 days ago.
In Fort Lauderdale there have been 9,739 up from 2,397, 30 days ago. Next door in Wilton Manors the number is up to 206.
There are 369,834 confirmed cases in Florida, more than 4 million in the U.S., and globally more than 15 million. So far there have been 5,207 deaths in Florida, 144,000 in the U.S. and globally more than 616,000. Almost 800 Floridians have died in the last week.
“The State of Florida has reported 136 deaths in the past 24-hour period. The Governor continues to deny the need to implement a consistent statewide plan that would help to get the pandemic under control sooner. Counties and municipalities adhere to different guidelines creating confusion and misinformation,” Lonegran said. “There are also concerns about a lack of COVID-19 educational materials in languages other than English. Hospital Intensive Care Units are hitting capacity and test results are taking longer than expected which is making contact tracing difficult. It’s time for the Governor to get serious and implement statewide guidelines and lead responsibly.”
For more local information Lonergan pointed to the Oakland Park Coronavirus Call Center Hotline the city set up at the beginning of the pandemic. It’s available from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. “to answer questions and redirect residents to the resources they may find helpful.” He also directed residents to this webpage on the city’s website for “a wealth of knowledge, resources and links related to the pandemic.”
Last month the City launched a campaign to encourage residents to shop local with the “Find it in Oakland Park” campaign. Find more information here.
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