First Coast home to more than 18,000 coronavirus cases

JACKSONVILLE CORONAVIRUS (7)
Positivity rates rebounded after several days of decline.

The five-county First Coast region now has more than 18,000 cases of coronavirus, according to Florida Department of Health data released Tuesday.

Northeast Florida recorded 542 new COVID-19 cases Monday to Tuesday morning, reaching 18,095. Three counties on the First Coast also recorded six new combined deaths for a total of 145 attributed to the illness in the region.

Some Northeast Florida counties showed dipping positivity rates in recent days. However, Monday’s data shows the positive test rate rebounded.

Duval County had a 16.5% positive result out of the 1,797 tests administered, up from 11.2% Sunday.

Jacksonville recorded 354 new cases in the latest report for a total of 12,724. Jacksonville also added three new deaths, bring the total to 87.

Clay County also recorded three new deaths Monday for a total of 39. Clay more than doubled the rate of positive tests in one day arriving at 13.9% Monday, up from 6.9% Sunday.

St. Johns County also increased its positivity rate, climbing to 10.7% Monday from 5.6% Sunday. St. Johns now has 2,019 total cases of COVID-19, up 114 from Sunday. No new deaths or hospitalizations were recorded, remaining at 12 and 104 respectively.

Nassau County recorded 24 new cases Monday for a total of 2,019 while adding one new death for a total of three with no changes in hospitalizations.

Baker County’s total case count increased by 15 Monday, totaling 180 with no changes in deaths, holding at four, while adding two new hospitalizations for a total of 20.

Across Florida, there are now 291,629 cases, 4,409 deaths and 18,881 hospitalizations.

Editor’s note on methodology: The Florida Department of Health releases new data every morning around 10:45 a.m. The total number reported in those daily reports include the previous day’s totals as well as the most up to date data as of about 9:30 a.m.

Florida Politics uses the report-over-report increase to document the number of new cases each day because it represents the most up-to-date data available. Some of the more specific data, including positivity rates and demographics, considers a different data set that includes only cases reported the previous day.

This is important to note because the DOH report lists different daily totals than our methodology to show day-over-day trends. Their numbers do not include nonresidents who tested positive in the state and they only include single-day data, therefore some data in the DOH report may appear lower than what we report.

Our methodology was established based on careful consideration among our editorial staff to capture both the most recent and accurate trends.

Drew Dixon

Drew Dixon is a journalist of 40 years who has reported in print and broadcast throughout Florida, starting in Ohio in the 1980s. He is also an adjunct professor of philosophy and ethics at three colleges, Jacksonville University, University of North Florida and Florida State College at Jacksonville. You can reach him at [email protected].



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