Florida COVID-19 outbreak continues, adding 73,199 cases per week

JACKSONVILLE, Florida – The Department of Health reported 73,199 new cases of coronavirus in the week ending Thursday – up 60% from the increase last week and more than three times the number of new cases seen there barely two weeks ago.

The state now has an average of 10,457 new cases every day.

Duval County cases increased by 6,430 in one week – the second highest increase since the start of the pandemic. The largest per capita increases over the past week were seen in Nassau, Baker and Duval counties.

The state’s positivity rate for new cases has also jumped to 15.1%, continuing a steady increase over the past month that worries infectious disease experts, hospitals and local leaders. The percentage of positive tests in Duval County is 25.7% and all neighboring counties are over 20%.

The state’s report on COVID-19 deaths since the pandemic reached Florida has risen by 282, though not all of those people died last week.

Florida is seeing an increase in cases and deaths as it grapples with the highly transmissible delta variant of the novel coronavirus and lagging vaccination rates. Hospital officials statewide say beds are filling with COVID-19 patients.

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ranks Florida as one of 14 countries considered to have a “high” level of community transmission of the virus.

Despite the growing urgency of leadership pressure for vaccinations, including calls this week from Mayor Lenny Curry and Governor Ron DeSantis, the number of people getting vaccinated this week has actually declined slightly in the latest data – well that there was a slight increase in the number of people receiving their first dose.

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The FDOH reports that 11,469,755 Floridians have now received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine – 60% of residents aged 12 and over. The state reports that 50% of Jacksonville residents eligible for a vaccine have had at least one injection. At 63%, St. Johns County has the highest vaccination rate in our region, while showing a 20.7% positivity rate in the latest data.

The Gateway Mobile vaccination site administered 75 vaccines to people on Friday. The day before, he gave more than 100 injections.

The Duval County Health Department says it sees up to 400 people a day getting tested at its central health center in Springfield. A man told News4Jax he waited two and a half hours to get tested on Friday.

As of early June, the Florida Department of Health has only provided weekly reports on COVID-19 tests, infections, deaths, and vaccinations.