Duval County now has 46 coronavirus cases

Duval County now has 46 coronavirus cases, according to new data released by the Florida Department of Health.

The Monday morning total is an increase of seven over the 39 reported in DOH’s Sunday evening update.

The number of coronavirus fatalities in Duval County held steady at two. The deaths were two men in their 80s. In Jacksonville, a total of 11 victims have been hospitalized. 

The DOH figures show 22 men and 19 women who have tested positive for the disease in Duval County. Patient ages range from 19 to 91, with the average age being 64.

The Duval County total includes 42 county residents and four nonresidents. The nonresidents still live in Florida, according to the DOH.

Of the total, four cases are travel-related while 14 have no connection to travel. DOH does not know the source of the other 28 cases in the Jacksonville area.

The spike in confirmed cases came alongside an increase in testing. 

Drive-through testing at TIAA Bank Field, the Jacksonville Jaguars’ home stadium, started accepting people of all ages Monday. The free testing is being conducted in one of the stadium parking lots within eye shot of the St. Johns River in downtown Jacksonville. 

Before Monday, those seeking a test at the site had to be at least 65-years old. While the testing site is open to all now, city officials say a person must have a body temperature above 99.6 degrees and demonstrate some respiratory symptoms to be tested. 

The city also recently ordered closures for most local gathering places, including beaches and public parks. But at Memorial Park in Jacksonville’s trendy Riverside neighborhood, several residents could be seen strolling through the waterfront park as well as other areas Monday morning.

Meanwhile, Duval County’s beach communities remained relatively empty. Several surf report websites in North Florida show vacant shores.

A video post on 911surfreport.com showed empty seaside sand at the Jacksonville Beach Fishing Pier. Some beach websites, such as Voidlive.com, did not provide a daily surf update Monday morning.

There have been a total of 515 coronavirus tests administered in Duval County. There have been 427 negatives and 42 are pending, DOH said. 

Statewide, DOH reports 1,171 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Florida with 14 deaths attributed to the virus so far.

Out of those, 1,096 are Sunshine State residents while another 75 are nonresidents. A total of 13,094 tests have been administered, with 11,063 negatives and another 860 pending.

Nationwide, there were 35,345 confirmed cases as of Monday morning with 473 deaths. Globally, those numbers were at 353,692 and 15,430 deaths, up by about 2,000 since Sunday.