Greater Jacksonville is behind the COVID-19 outbreak in Florida

JACKSONVILLE, Florida – The number of coronavirus cases diagnosed in Florida last week – 45,449 – is close to the increases seen during the peak last summer. This week-to-week infection growth rate is the highest the state has seen since June 2020.

Nearly one in five of the nation’s new COVID-19 infections originate in Florida, White House coronavirus coordinator Jeff Zients said in a briefing.

The rate in Jacksonville and three neighboring counties is even higher, leading the state in new infections per capita and exceeding increases seen during Florida’s first peak last summer.

Jacksonville had 4,328 reported cases in the week ending Thursday, 19% more than its July 2020 peak and the biggest weekly increase since mid-January, as the city and country came out of the winter wave.

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As a perspective, Duval County has had more cases in the previous seven days than Orange County (Orlando), Hillsborough County (Tampa) and Palm Beach County, although they each have a population that is half the size.

According to data from the Florida Department of Health, Baker and Nassau counties recorded the largest increases per 100,000 people in the state last week (see interactive map below). Bradford and Duval counties were the only other counties in the state with infection rates above 400 per 100,000.

While Baker and Bradford counties have the lowest vaccination rates in Florida (29% and 35% respectively), the vaccination rates of 50% in Nassau County and 49% in Duval County are not far behind. of the state average of 59%.

Weekly cases per 100,000 inhabitants

Point to County for Data

CORONAVIRUS IN FLORIDA: County-by-county case and vaccination rate | Latest Updates

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Nassau County Emergency Management posted a “significant increase” on Facebook on Saturday.

“The number of cases is quickly approaching the highest numbers seen since before the vaccine was widely available in Florida,” the post read, then described all the places the Department of Health distributes free vaccines and without appointment this week.

“We are done with the virus, but the virus is not over with us,” Seminole County Medical Director Dr Todd Husty told our sister station, WKMG-TV.

Charts from the state’s health department show that while cases of COVID-19 have increased in the past four weeks, the number of vaccinations is dropping.

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The number of people getting vaccinated against COVID-19 in Florida has fallen by about 80% from its peak in April.

“This is not going in the right direction. We’ve been noticing this for four weeks now, and it continues like this, ”Husty said.

While the slowdown in vaccinations and many communities – including most of Northeast Florida – with half or more of the population still unpopulated, confuses health officials, it comes as the delta variant more infected spreads quickly. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that delta accounted for 31.1% of infections last week and it will soon become the dominant strain.

We asked members of our News4Nassau Facebook group if they would resume wearing masks in public. Most of the answers were no.

One person told us that she never stopped wearing masks because of the risk.

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This week in Jacksonville, we heard from Dr. Sunil Joshi of the Duval County Medical Society Foundation talk about what could happen to us.

“So there is a concern that we might start to go back. If we don’t see those numbers start to drop again, we need to be concerned about hospitalizations here in Northeast Florida because the number of hospitalizations is increasing, and we need to do everything we can to mitigate those numbers, ”he said. Joshi said.

Currently in Florida, 3,200 people are hospitalized with COVID. That’s a 73% increase since June 14.

Earlier in the pandemic, state officials released a dashboard showing the number of COVID-19-related hospitalizations and available hospital beds.

Last month, the state stopped releasing the data because hospitalizations were down.

Over the past week, with an increase in hospitalizations in Jacksonville, News4Jax asked state officials if they would release this information again, but they did not respond.

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For some, seeing the data doesn’t change their response to the increase in cases.

“I know it’s real. I know it’s over there. But personally, I don’t care. I’m pretty healthy. People have to be careful, but I think that’s overkill, ”said Northeast Florida resident Jeanie Watts.

This week – Nassau County officials spread the word on Facebook about upcoming vaccination opportunities – reminding people that vaccines are widely available.

In Nassau County, only 50% of the population aged 12 and over has at least one dose of the vaccine.

“So the virus affects the younger groups of people who are not vaccinated, and this delta variant is much, much more transmissible and leads to much more serious illness, so please get vaccinated because we know that over 90% or 99% of patients who are currently in hospital with COVID are not vaccinated, ”Joshi said.

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For some, seeing the data doesn’t change their response to increasing cases.

“I’m actually just going to take the precautions to stay clean, you know, take my vitamins, exercise, that’s what I did the entire pandemic,” the resident said. Nichole Brumme.

We also hear from News4Jax viewers – who have seen their loved ones go to hospital for other reasons – and who have faced long wait times.

A woman told us on Facebook that her mother went to the emergency room and waited more than five hours.