First Coast breaks 23K coronavirus cases ahead of RNC

Jacksonville and other areas of the First Coast with nonprofits are getting a boost in financial help because of the impacts from the coronavirus. Image via Drew Dixon.

The five-county First Coast region exceeded 23,000 total cases of coronavirus Tuesday as it prepares to host portions of the Republican National Convention next month.

The continued surge in new cases is prompting many to question whether a large convention can safely occur in Jacksonville, fears that prompted officials to consider holding festivities outdoors. Doing so would signal just how dire the consequences could be with an indoor convention considering an outdoor event during a Florida August would not only be swelteringly hot, but also present risks from potential hurricanes, an eventuality that plagued Tampa in 2012.

Duval County’s positivity rate for new tests remains above 10% both in the one-week and two-week averages despite a temporary drop over the weekend.

Still, there is some hope. Jacksonville’s case count showed a notable slow-down, according to Florida Department of Health Data released Tuesday.

The city’s total tally reached Tuesday morning, but that’s up just 299 cases from Sunday, the lowest increase in new daily cases in Jacksonville this month.

Jacksonville saw a spike in deaths attributed to the illness, a lagging indicator that usually surfaces about three weeks after new cases begin spiking.  There were seven new deaths counted Monday for a total of 105 in Duval County. Another 15 patients were hospitalized, bringing that total to 523.

Across Northeast Florida, there are now 23,409 total cases of coronavirus as of Monday, an increase of 464 from Sunday.

St. Johns County reported 71 new cases Monday for a total of 2,612. There were no new deaths. Another six residents required hospitalization for a total of 133.

Clay County added 60 cases Monday for a total of 2,197, with no new deaths and just five new hospitalizations.

Nassau County added 27 new cases Monday for a total of 811. Nassau counted one new death for a new total of five along with four new hospitalizations for a total of 45.

Baker County added seven new cases for a total of 245. There were no new deaths, holding steady at four and no new hospitalizations, remaining at 24.

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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.

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