Drew Dixon
The number of coronavirus cases in Duval County crossed the 400 threshold Sunday.
The Florida Department of Health’s coronavirus internet “dashboard” showed there are now 414 confirmed cases of the illness in Jacksonville. That’s up by 27 cases compared to Saturday night’s figure of 387. The DOH updates the figures twice a day.
Sunday morning’s update showed 44 people have been hospitalized with COVID-19 in Jacksonville. The number of fatalities held steady at nine.
A total of 7,274 people have been tested for coronavirus in Jacksonville. Out of those 6,726 people have tested negative for the infection. Another 134 people are awaiting test results.
In an amazing twist cutting against recent trends, the federal free coronavirus testing site for residents of Jacksonville at a parking lot outside TIAA Bank Field had a lack of people seeking the exams Sunday morning. A week ago to the day, the city had to place a limit of 250 tests per day at the home of the Jacksonville Jaguars because demand was so high.
At least twice in the past week, officials had to end testing at the site because the cap of 250 exams had been reached.
Jacksonville city officials on Sunday, though, were encouraging residents to go to the parking lot within eyeshot of the St. Johns River.
“Do you have a dry cough and/or difficulty breathing? Are you a first responder or healthcare worker who has contact with patients? If you’ve answered, ‘yes’ to any of these, there’s currently no wait for COVID-19 testing at Lot J, TIAA Bank Field,” said a message posted on the city of Jacksonville’s website just before 11 a.m.
Across Florida, there are now 12,151 cases of COVID-19. The fatality count increased to 218 Sunday. Another 1,490 people have been hospitalized in the Sunshine State.
Nationally, 312,249 people have contracted coronavirus with 8,503 deaths attributed to the infection.
