The covid-19 death toll in Suwannee County continued to climb Monday, with two more becoming casualties of the pandemic.
The deaths of a 74-year-old man and 62-year-old woman, both previously diagnosed with the virus, brought the total there up to eight, the Florida Department of Health in Suwannee County announced on Monday.
The two latest deaths were both connected to an existing case, health officials say.
As of 5:30 p.m. Monday, Suwannee County had 98 confirmed cases of covid-19, compared to 40 in Columbia County, which has yet to see a reported death.
Cases in Suwannee County have involved patients as young as 5 and as old as 102.
The epicenter of the outbreak in Live Oak is Suwannee Health and Rehabilitation Center.
Suwannee County accounts for a disproportionate number of cases in Florida involving long-term care staff or patients.
Only about one in every 486 Floridians live in Suwannee County. Yet Suwannee County represented roughly five percent of all cases in the state involving nursing home workers or residents as of Monday morning, according to DOH data.
Eighty-five of the 1,853 cases in Florida connected with nursing homes involved someone from Suwannee County.
Over the weekend, the governor’s office confirmed Suwannee Health and Rehabilitation Center as one of the nursing homes dealing with covid-19.