Jacksonville more than triples coronavirus cases in one month

It was a brutal month, as increasing coronavirus cases hurled localities statewide back into a full-blown crisis. Jacksonville added nearly 15,000 cases over the course of July, according to Florida Department of Health statistics released Saturday, going from 6,480 cases reported July 1 to 21,322 on Aug. 1.

Deaths increased 57% over the month, ballooning from 67 to 157.

Jacksonville saw an increase of 284 infections Thursday morning to Friday morning along with four new deaths, for a total of 157.

While the daily case increases have somewhat plateaued over the past two weeks from earlier in the month, cases continue to roll in at higher levels than they did at the virus’ previous peak in late April.

Still, hospitalizations, a lagging indicator have not stressed the region as severely in other areas, with 32% of Jacksonville’s adult intensive care unit beds still available, according to the Agency for Health Care Administration.

Clay County has only three hospitals with 40 adult ICU beds; only three  are available.

St. Johns has one major hospital with 22 ICU beds. None are open, though other ICU beds have been made available.

In Clay County, there were 45 new COVID-19 cases recorded Friday for a total of 2,853. There were no new deaths in Clay, but three new hospitalizations.

St. Johns County added 48 new cases for a total of 3,264 with two new deaths, growing the total to 28 and three new hospitalizations.

Nassau County added 25 new coronavirus cases Friday for a total of 1,079. There were no new deaths, holding steady at 10, and two new hospitalizations.

Baker County saw 15 new cases for a total of 371 and no new deaths or hospitalizations remaining unchanged at four and 26 respectively.

Across the five-county First Coast area, there were 427 new cases recorded Friday for a total of 28,889. That figure is more than triple from July 1. Another six deaths were added in the region for a total of 247, more than double July 1.

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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.