St. Johns County reports third coronavirus death

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One of the more quiet counties on the First Coast when it comes coronavirus data posted its first fatality in weeks caused by the illness Wednesday. St. Johns County recorded another COVID-19 death, the county’s third.

St. Johns County had held steady at two fatalities for the past few weeks and the number of victims hospitalized has held steady at 33 since Monday. But the additional fatality was part of the Florida Department of Health figures released as part of the second daily update Wednesday.

The number of total cases in St. Johns County also increased to 178 Wednesday, up by one case over Tuesday’s figure, said the DOH COVID-19 internet “dashboard.” The figure of 33 cases that required hospitalization hasn’t changed this week.

The St. Johns County figures were becoming so mundane that county officials said earlier this week that they thought the spread of the illness was tapering off.

“That is good news seeing those numbers begin to flatline,” said St. Johns County Administrator Hunter S. Conrad.

The DOH “dashboard” does indeed show the number of total cases and fatalities is slowing down not only in St. Johns County, but in four other First Coast Counties.

Duval County posted 745 cases of coronavirus as of Wednesday night. That’s up by 27 over Tuesday’s figure of 718. But Jacksonville’s fatality figure held steady at 14 and the number of hospitalizations went from 68 Tuesday to 69 Wednesday night.

Clay County held steady in most notable data categories. But Clay did post a new hospitalized victim as that number climbed to 40, up one over Tuesday.

Nassau County increased the number of cases coming in at 37 Wednesday night, up one from Tuesday. There now are nine victims who’ve been hospitalized in Nassau County, that’s up by one over Tuesday. Nassau County is the only Northeast Florida county without any fatalities.

Baker County’s figures did not change Wednesday.

In all, there are 547 total coronavirus cases on the First Coast, 28 fatalities due to the illness and 158 victims have been hospitalized due to the affliction.

Across Florida, a total of 22,511 people have been infected with COVID-19, 596 have died and 3,249 people have been hospitalized, according to DOH figures.