Clay County posts 9th fatal victim of coronavirus

Clay County added another fatality to the death toll attributed to coronavirus in Northeast Florida Monday evening, according to the Florida Department of Health data.

Clay recorded the first new death in that county due to the illness since Friday. The Clay County COVID-19 death count now stands eight. The county also added one more victim to the total number of coronavirus cases there which now stands at 165, up from Monday morning’s total of 164, according to the DOH online “dashboard.”

The number of people hospitalized in Clay County due to the infection also increased going from 36 to 38.

Duval County’s total number of coronavirus cases actually went down by one Monday evening after the DOH made an adjustment in the data from morning figures. Jacksonville now has 691 total cases.

The number of victims hospitalized in Duval County went from 65 in the morning to 66 Monday evening.

The Jacksonville numbers held steady on the day that Mayor Lenny Curry announced he’d be extending the emergency declaration for the city to May 12. On Twitter, Curry was specific to say the measure was due to federal consideration.

“The extension of the emergency declaration allows the city to continue receiving state and federal funds as we address COVID-19,” Curry said on Twitter. “This is not an extension of my ‘Safer at Home’ executive order that closes non-essential business.”

Jacksonville also was spotty on the free coronavirus testing center in a parking lot outside TIAA Bank Field on Monday. The testing center outside of the stadium where the Jacksonville Jaguars play was closed Sunday in observance of the Easter holiday. But it was closed most of the day Monday due to heavy rains and the city’s website posted messages the testing center will open again Tuesday, “weather permitting.”

The tally of total cases of coronavirus on the First Coast now stands at 183 victims, up only one from the morning because of the Duval County adjustment. The number of COVID-19 fatalities in the five Northeast Florida counties now stands at 26.

St. Johns County’s total case count increased from 175 Monday morning to 178 in the evening. St. Johns also had one additional victim who had to be hospitalized bringing that figure to 33.

Nassau and Baker counties posted no new additions in key data points Monday night.

Across Florida, 21,029 people had been infected with COVID-19 as of Monday night. Out of those, 499 have died and another 2,841 people have been hospitalized.