Good morning! To those who are off tomorrow, Happy Friday! If you’re not, well, it’s almost Friday! Here’s the 5 Things You Need To Know in and around Osceola County:

1. If you go to St. Cloud Regional Hospital, you’ll notice it’s new name.

In April, Orlando Health, a household name in the region’s health care community, announced its purchase of St. Cloud Regional Center. Today, it became official: the facility is now Orlando Health St. Cloud Hospital.

It’s been a great year, despite the pandemic, thus far for the St. Cloud Regional Medical Center, including its new 50,000 square foot, two-story addition of space for primary care, specialist offices, a walk-in clinic and retail pharmacy that has officially opened.

Orlando Health had already made a footprint into Osceola County when it opened a stand alone ER facility at Osceola Parkway and Orange Avenue in 2019.

 

2. COVID-19 testing is coming back to Osceola Heritage Park next week.

The Florida Department of Health in Osceola County will provide community testing at OHP, which held the county’s first testing back in April, Monday through Friday of next week from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Unlike other testing locations in the area which require appointments — which have been filling up fast — appointments are not necessary for this drive-through event.

With the number of cases going up, the demand for testing has risen as well. This event at Osceola Heritage Park will allow for added capacity and increased access to testing for residents. The Health Department is partnering with OHP and Osceola County Emergency Management to provide what will likely be a very busy testing event.

Unfortunately, Osceola County recorded its 25th fatality from the coronavirus since late March, a 69-year-old man who died on Monday.

3.Starting Monday, head to St. Cloud parks and look for the key. It’s part of a special scavenger hunt.

July is National Parks and Recreation Month, So as you’d imagine, the City of St. Cloud Parks and Recreation department will be celebrating, and the city is bringing the party to the people with a special scavenger hunt!

Parks & Rec will hide 120 bronze and silver keys with key tags in all 15 of the city parks. Starting Monday, search for the keys, and if you find one, bring it to the St. Cloud Civic Center on 17th Street between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday to claim a Parks and Recreation prize bag.

The hunt will go on all month, or until all 120 keys are found. Please, so as many people can participate as people, limit one key per person. For a list of the parks, check out Positively Osceola.com.

4. Sea World announced it will expand its 4th of July fireworks celebration over three nights this weekend.

As one of few public fireworks show in the area, SeaWorld Orlando has expanded its celebration to THREE nights — Friday, Saturday and Sunday night at 9 p.m. Each night will feature the park’s brand-new fireworks spectacular called Light Up The Sky“.

Spaced seating, increased sanitation, additional park signage and additional staffing will be implemented throughout the park, and additional exits will also be added for a safe exit from the park at the conclusion of the fireworks. SeaWorld will be closed today for cleaning and sanitation ahead of the fireworks spectacular weekend. The park will have physically distant viewing, and to spread out the crowds, there will be five viewing locations.

Remember that with the park operating at a percentage of capacity, reservations are limited and must be made in advance., so go on online to seaworld.com/Orlando if you want to see the show in person.

 

5. And speaking of the 4th of July, know that many businesses and offices will be closed Friday to observe the holiday.

That includes most banks, government operations like the cities of St. Cloud and Kissimmee, and the Kissimmee Utility Authority customer service office. the Osceola County Courthouse and Osceola County Administration offices, including libraries and the Bass Road Resource Recycle Center, will not open Friday, but if your trash collection day is Friday, pick up will be as scheduled.

 

And now for the weather. We’ll see a better chance of rain Thursday than earlier in the week, which should keep the high temperature around 92 and out of the upper 90s. The chance of rain is 50 percent, and will only go up as we approach the weekend. Tonight will be mostly cloudy with a low of 76.