Jacksonville reaches 18,000 coronavirus cases

Memories … the way we were. Image via Jacksonville Magazine.

Jacksonville cruised past 18,000 total cases of coronavirus while the five-county First Coast area is poised to break 25.000, according to Florida Department of Health data released Thursday.

There were a total of 18,357 COVID-19 infections in Jacksonville as of Thursday, an increase of 378 over Tuesday.

Jacksonville also confirmed five new COVID-19 deaths, bringing the total to 113 Wednesday. Jacksonville’s death toll has jumped significantly in July, with 24 new deaths in just the past week.

Four more people were hospitalized Wednesday for a total of 533.

The positivity rate jumped back up to 10.9% Wednesday, up from 6.4% Tuesday, which was the lowest rate this month. In the past week, the average positive test rate was 10.1% in Jacksonville. Still, that figure doesn’t approach Jacksonville’s record percentage of positive tests that exceeded 20% on a single day earlier this month.

Meanwhile, the Northeast Florida region recorded 528 new cases of coronavirus Wednesday to Thursday morning, for a total of 24,514 making it likely the area will exceed the 25,000 mark within a day. The area now has 186 deaths attributed to the illness and 533 hospitalizations.

Clay County added 81 new cases Wednesday for a total of 2,330. Clay also recorded a new death for a total of 46 and one new hospitalization for a total of 158.

St. Johns County saw 38 new cases for a total of 2,708. There were no new deaths holding steady at 17 and three new hospitalizations for a total of 141.

Nassau County added 27 new infections for a total of 865, no new deaths holding steady at seven and one new hospitalization for a total of 48.

Baker County recorded four new cases for a total of 254 and no new deaths or hospitalizations remaining at four and 24 respectively.

_____

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.