ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orange County has now topped 100,000 COVID-19 cases and more than 900 deaths since the start of the pandemic, according to data released by health officials.

“I am not entirely surprised,” said Dr. Akinyemi Ajayi, who works with AdventHealth in Orlando. “We had it coming, quite frankly. We have a population of 1.3 million in Orange County.”

Despite reaching the 100,000 mark, the county is moving in the right direction based on recent trends, Ajayi said.

“In the beginning of the month, the trend lines, the positive numbers were higher,” he said. “In the last week, we have settled down somewhat. When you look at Orange County, we are looking at 600-700 a cases a day.”

In total, more than 2,000 people have been hospitalized, the Florida Department of Health in Orange County reported.

Daily coronavirus case numbers have declined over the past couple weeks, and about 25% of intensive care unit beds in Orange County are free.

News on the vaccine is a factor in the downward trend in cases, Ajayi said.

“I think risk-taking behaviors have reduced somewhat for those who haven't taken vaccine because they believe they can get the vaccine soon,” he said.

Claudio Gonzalez from Apopka, who has had COVID-19, cautioned against taking the illness lightly.

“It was very scary honestly,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez, whose sister and mother also had the virus over the summer, said he does not know how he contracted it, but he felt the effects for several weeks.

“Getting something like a glass of water, I would be out of breathe,” Gonzalez said.  “You get up to go to the bathroom, that would be exhausting.”