Jacksonville, neighboring counties see the biggest one-day increase in COVID-19 cases

JACKSONVILLE, Florida. – Duval, Clay, Nassau and St. Johns counties saw a record increase in COVID-19 cases in the Florida Department of Health’s Tuesday report.

The state added 15,431 new cases of coronavirus and 100 COVID-related deaths on Tuesday. While this was not a record for the state, Florida averaged more than 14,000 new cases in each of the past seven days – the biggest increase in the week since the pandemic began in March.

There was an additional 1,331 cases in Duval County on Tuesday, 307 in St. Johns County, 204 in Clay County and 123 cases in Nassau County in the latest FDOH report – the biggest single-day increases in those counties .

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the state has recorded 1,392,123 cases and 22,515 deaths related to the virus.

The statewide positivity rate based on Monday’s test was 12.74%, the health department said on Tuesday.

As of 3:30 pm on Tuesday, 7,342 people were hospitalized in Florida with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19, according to the state Health Care Administration Agency.

According to the state’s latest vaccination data, 20,195 first doses were administered on Monday, bringing the total in the state to 289,773. The majority of Florida residents who have been vaccinated are health workers and first responders, although an increasing number are elderly people aged 65 and over, which the governor has defined as an important demographic group for vaccinations.

More than 82% of people who died of the disease in Florida were over 65 years old.

Florida has one of the oldest populations in the country, with 4.4 million of the state’s 21 million population aged 65 and over.

Common symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, cough, difficulty breathing, sore throat, muscle pain and loss of taste or smell. Most people develop only mild symptoms. But some people, usually those with other medical complications, develop more severe symptoms, including pneumonia.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.