Drew Dixon
The First Coast exceeded 28,000 cases of coronavirus, according to Florida Department of Health data released Thursday.
Northeast Florida saw an additional 553 COVID-19 infections for a total of 28,122 cases. The death toll also continues to rise for the region with a total of 237 deaths, an increase of five over Tuesday.
Hospitalizations saw a modest increase Wednesday for a total of 1,060 on the First Coast, up 28 from Tuesday.
Data coming out of Jacksonville has shown erratic changes in recent days with another substantial uptick in the number of cases of coronavirus. Jacksonville added 418 new cases Wednesday for a total of 20,816.
Jacksonville had been showing a decrease in daily new cases for a few days, dropping to 137 new cases Monday, the lowest count of new infections in the city since mid-June.
There were three new deaths in Jacksonville Wednesday for a total of 152. Jacksonville hospitalizations increased 13 Wednesday to 621.
Positivity rates in Jacksonville appear to have stabilized for the time being. The rate Wednesday was 7.7% among 5,014 tests administered. The seven-day positivity rate 8.3%.
In other areas of the First Coast, St. Johns County added 32 new cases Wednesday for a total of 3,168, one new death for a total of 24 and five new hospitalizations for a sum of 166.
Clay County added 61 cases Wednesday for a total of 2,758. There were no new deaths, holding steady at 47 and eight new hospitalizations for a total of 188.
Nassau county added 28 new cases Wednesday for a total of 28. Nassau added two new deaths for a total of 10 and two new hospitalizations for a total of 60.
Baker County saw 14 new infections for a total of 343 Wednesday. There were no new deaths or hospitalizations.
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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.
