Rep. Carlos Smith, D-Orlando, is set to host an online “community health update” on meningococcal disease and monkeypox outbreaks in Florida.

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings and other local leaders will host a COVID-19 briefing on Wednesday, according to county officials.

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings will provide an update on COVID-19 at a Thursday news conference.

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings spoke about the potential of the county facing a lawsuit from some of its firefighters during a news conference on Monday.

Orange County leaders announced Monday that pediatric cases in children ages 5 to 14 make up roughly 20% of all new COVID-19 cases in the county, making them the age group contributing the most new infections in the area.

Alvina Chu explains representation builds stronger community.

Federal health officials have opened eligibility for Pfizer's two-dose COVID-19 vaccine to include kids between the ages of 12 and 15. The emergency use authorization was approved on Monday by the Food and Drug Administration.

The Orange County mayor wants residents to keep wearing masks, despite the governor's executive orders.

With summer approaching, an Orange County epidemiologist is warning that pandemic precautions still need to be taken, especially as the region sees more COVID-19 cases among children.

Now with 416 documented cases, the Sunshine State has twice as many U.K. variant cases as California, which has 186 as of Wednesday, according to the CDC database. Colorado has 67 cases, Texas has 60 and Connecticut has 42 whereas most other states have only a few reported cases. Florida has tripled the number of U.K. variants in under a month. Three weeks ago, Florida had reported 125 UK variant cases. Florida reported 37 new cases between Sunday and Wednesday.

FILE - In this Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2020 file photo, a medical worker prepares a shot of Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine in Moscow, Russia. [READ YESTERDAY’S REPORT: As Florida celebrates Super Bowl win state reports 5,600 new COVID-19 cases]Below is a breakdown of Florida COVID-19 data reported by the state on Feb. 9. CasesThe Florida Department of Health reported 7,041 new cases on Tuesday, bringing the state’s overall total to 1,790,743 cases since the coronavirus pandemic began in March. HospitalizationsAs of Tuesday afternoon, there were currently 5,307 people with the virus hospitalized in Florida, according to the state Agency for Health Care Administration. VaccinationsThe Florida Department of Health recently began releasing a daily report on COVID-19 vaccines administered throughout the state.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Less than a week ago, Orange County confirmed the first residential case of the more viral COVID-19 U.K. variant, as of Monday that number is up to 10. Coronavirus is an RNA virus, which means COVID-19 is encoded in ribonucleic acid or RNA. When someone is infected with COVID-19 it creates 100 million copies of the virus RNA inside their body, Chu explained. U.K. variant. “Until everyone is protected, no one is protected because every infection allows for the genetic mutations to occur,” Chu said.

ORLANDO, Fla. – The nation is averaging 172,000 new coronavirus cases per day, nearly doubling since the end of October, according to Johns Hopkins University. Hospitalizations, deaths and the testing positivity rate are also up sharply as the nation approaches Thanksgiving. In Florida, where positive cases are nearly 1 million overall, long lines for coronavirus testing are expected to continue as millions prepare to travel for the holiday, according to emergency management officials. Below is information provided by the Florida Department of Health for Tuesday, Nov. 24. CasesThe Florida Department of Health reported 8,555 new cases on Tuesday, bringing the state’s overall total to 953,300 cases since March.

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – With Thanksgiving just days away, Central Florida leaders are reminding residents once again that not everyone should be celebrating this year. There’s a potential that you might be shedding the virus and be infectious to others, even if you don’t feel sick,” she said. “Please don’t let your guard down during these holidays,” she warned. “When we talk about families, Thanksgiving is one of those family holidays. To keep up with the latest news on the pandemic, subscribe to News 6′s coronavirus newsletter and go toClickOrlando.com/coronavirus.

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Large “super spreader” events are not fueling the rising coronavirus cases across our region but neighborhood gatherings within families and friends are, according to experts. It’s something Dr. Raul Pino, the director of the Florida Department of Health in Orange County, has been saying for weeks. So that’s why we have insisted in celebrations, family gatherings, and I hate to say birthdays, but birthdays too -- so we have to keep our social gatherings to the smallest number possible while observing CDC guidelines. “There are now a reported 53,384 cases in Orange County, 619 Orange County residents have died as a result of the coronavirus, which is an increase of 15 residents since our last briefing on Monday. This is a sad statistic that hits home in our county, to the families and Orange County residents,” Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said.

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Nearly a month after Florida entered Phase 3 of reopening, workers such as Orange County epidemiologist Charles Letizia stay busy as the number of cases continues to climb, more than 8,500 in Orange County in just the past two months, according to officials at the Department of Health in Orange County. “The age demographic has shifted younger with a lot of our cases, especially with schools and colleges and universities resuming classes,” Letizia said. News 6 met with Letizia back in May, when statewide new daily coronavirus cases were only about half of what we’re seeing throughout October. News 6 got a rare look at the inside of the offices of case investigators who conduct contact tracing, the process of finding out who has been exposed to the coronavirus after a positive case. Since the pandemic began, leaders changed the way they conduct contact tracing in Central Florida.

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Orange County health leaders are trying to determine why COVID-19 data is sometimes delayed by as much as a month but right now, they don’t have an exact explanation for the lag. “So ‘I don’t exactly know’ is the answer (as to why death data is delayed), but we do try to work hard to confirm and investigate the deaths, and so we are working to figure out why,” Chu said. “So the size of the gathering matters, you know, smaller groups have the smaller potential for spread. Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings issued a word of caution Thursday to any resident or business owner who may be thinking about letting their guard down. As of Thursday, Orange County has reported a total of 40,485 COVID-19 cases, 1,369 hospitalizations and 470 deaths since March.