Jacksonville breaks 17,000 coronavirus cases, positive test rates surge

Small businesses owners who took a hit from the coronavirus outbreak in Jacksonville can begin applying for city-sponsored relief grants. Photo via Drew Dixon.

Jacksonville surpassed the 17,000 mark for total cases of COVID-19, according Florida Department of Health data released Monday.

Duval County added 699 cases Sunday through Monday morning for a total of 17,245 cases. Jacksonville also added four new deaths attributed to COVID-19 for a total of 98 while increasing to 508 hospitalizations, up 12 from Saturday.

The Jacksonville numbers have been fluctuating since setting a record number of new cases Wednesday when 804 new cases were tabulated in a single day.

Another variable changing dramatically in recent days in Jacksonville is the positive rate for coronavirus tests. Sunday’s positive test rate was 13.6%, a noticeable jump from 8.5% Saturday, the lowest positive test rate in Jacksonville this month and the second straight day that figure was below 10% for the first time since early June.

In other locales in the five-county First Coast area, St. Johns County added 110 new cases of coronavirus Sunday for a total of 2,541. St. Johns also saw a noticeable jump in the rate of positive test rates for the infection jumping from 9.4% Saturday to 13.2% Sunday.  That figure had dropped to as low as 5.5% on July 12.

St. Johns added no new deaths, holding steady at 16 with six new hospitalizations for a total of 130.

Clay County posted 54 new infections Sunday for a total of 2,137. One new death was added in Clay County for a total of 43. Clay’s positive test rate held steady at 9.8%for the second day in a row.

Nassau County added 39 new coronavirus cases for a total of 784 Sunday, no new deaths, remaining at four, and two new hospitalizations for a total of 41.

Baker County recorded six new cases for a total of 238 Sunday, with no new deaths or hospitalizations.

Across the First Coast, there were 22,945 total cases of COVID-19 as of Sunday, an increase of 908 over Saturday, 165 total deaths and 854 hospitalizations attributed to the illness.

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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 non-residents 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.