First Coast breaks 26,000 mark for coronavirus cases

JACKSONVILLE CORONAVIRUS (9)
Northeast Florida COVID-19 case count nearly tripled from beginning of July.

The five-county First Coast area broke the 26,000 mark for coronavirus cases, according to Florida Department of Health data released Sunday.

The Northeast Florida region added 625 new infections for a total of 26,461 cases of COVID-19 at the end of Saturday. There was one additional fatality for a total of 217 and 11 new hospitalizations for a total of 976 on the First Coast.

The total number of cases in Northeast Florida is closing in on three times the amount of infections the region saw at the beginning of the month when there were 9,421 total cases. Fatalities have nearly doubled from the figure of 115 deaths on July 1 across the region.

A key statistic from Saturday was the minimal increase in fatalities because on Friday, Jacksonville saw a single-day record number of additional deaths due to coronavirus. That spike added 16 new deaths in Jacksonville for a total 138 and demonstrated yet another notable increase in fatalities for Duval County which has seen the fatality figure more than double this month when there were 68 deaths attributed to the illness on July 1.

The additional fatality in Saturday’s count was from Jacksonville, pushing the city’s total to 139.

Jacksonville saw 465 new cases of COVID-19 Saturday for a total of 19,753. There were 15 new hospitalizations for a total of 580.

Elsewhere across the First Coast, St. Johns County added 58 new cases for a total of 2,929, no new fatalities holding steady at 19 and three new hospitalizations for a total of 149.

Clay County added 65 new cases of coronavirus Saturday for a total of 2,518, no new fatalities holding steady at 47 and one new hospitalization for 171 total.

Nassau County recorded 22 new cases for a total of 941, no new fatalities to its tally of eight and two new hospitalizations for a sum of 51.

Baker County added 15 new cases for a total of 300 with no changes in deaths or hospitalizations, holding steady at four and 25 respectively.

Across Florida, there are now 423,855 who have been infected with COVID-19, 5,854 fatalities and 24,064 hospitalizations attributed to the illness.

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.

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].


One comment

  • Sonja Fitch

    July 26, 2020 at 3:46 pm

    The goptrump cult out in Atlantic Beach are making complete fools of themselves! Standing on Atlantic and third ! You would think that they are complete oblivious to the pandemic! Screaming and yelling and hooting snd hollering as if all is fine! Watching them made me think of a desperate cult trying to hang on to the lies!

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