COVID-19 hotspots have formed in counties across SWFL

As of Tuesday, much of Southwest Florida is red if you look at the Department of Health”s COVID-19 map, marking much of the area as a “hot spot.” But what does that mean?

You hear the word hotspot all the time, and all that means is a particular zip code has registered 300 cases or more.

In the zipcode 33916, more than 700 cases have been recorded, which is enough to classify the area zip code as a hotspot.

But across Colonial Blvd, there are only 130 cases.

WINK News looked at the top three zip codes in our local counties and Charlotte County has no recorded hotspots. In Lee County, the zip codes include 33905, which is in Tice and Buckingham has 772 cases. The zip code 33916 has 706 cases, and 34135 in Bonita Springs has 620 cases.

In Collier County, the zipcode 34142 in Immokalee has recorded 1,744 cases.

34116 in Golden Gate has 847 cases, and 34120 in the Immokalee and Orangetree neighborhoods have 617 cases.

We asked Kaiser Family Foundation who tracks cases across the country and what these numbers mean for all of us.

“That clearly appears to be community spread in Florida and we are showing a positivity rate close to 19%, once you were that high there is clear evidence of community spread and this is not simply just about an increase in testing,” said Jennifer Tolbert, Director of State Health Reform at the Kaiser Family Foundations.

As cases continue to spike in Florida, scientists and health experts continue to stress the importance of wearing a facemask, because the moment you put one on, you are reducing your chance of inhaling contagious particles.

To view the number of cases in your zip code click here.