Jacksonville doctor expresses concern over COVID-19 outbreak as children set to return to school

JACKSONVILLE, Florida – An increase in COVID-19 cases worries Jacksonville medical experts, especially with children returning to school soon.

Dr Sunil Joshi, president of the Duval County Medical Society Foundation, said Friday that Florida school districts may need to rethink their safety policies for the next school year.

“We’re starting to see the numbers go up, and it’s incredibly worrying to see the spike,” Dr Joshi said. “The way it’s increasing right now, it’s not just a gradual increase, I mean these numbers are increasing.”

Joshi, the founder of Family Allergy and Asthma Consultants, was attending an immunology conference in Orlando. He said it was not shocking to see the increase in coronavirus cases because the delta variant of COVID-19 is so virulent.

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The increase in Jacksonville comes as the White House has identified Florida as the state responsible for nearly 20% of new infections seen nationwide. The Sunshine State recorded 45,000 cases last week, nearly double the previous week.

As the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr Rochelle Wolensky pointed out on Friday, regions with lower vaccination rates appear to be more affected by the spike in new cases.

Like other communities in northeast Florida, Duval County is contributing to the increase. According to the Florida Department of Health, Duval has seen 4,428 new cases in the past seven days, a positivity rate of 21.9%.

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“Here in Duval County, where we are roughly at a 42% vaccination rate, our cases are increasing at a much higher rate than in other parts of the country where vaccination rates are higher.” said Joshi.

Even so, the doctor said, people probably didn’t expect Jacksonville to be hit so badly.

Joshi said the increase in the number of cases could be of greater concern as young people, children 12 and under, are not yet eligible to receive the vaccine, even though they must return to school in a few weeks.

“If the number of positive tests increases, you know that when the numbers are 5% positive, that’s a decent level of spread in the community,” he said. “When you’re 18% and 19% positive, community spread is important now.”

If Florida sees those kinds of numbers in the next few weeks, Joshi said, it would be wise for authorities to reassess safety measures for school-aged children.

“When you have a group of children who are not vaccinated… it seems to me that you have to reconsider whether or not those groups of children should at least have masks,” he said.