JACKSONVILLE Fla. – A Jacksonville woman and a Clay County man are among the latest coronavirus casualties in Florida as the statewide death toll rose to 296 on Tuesday evening.
Baker County also reported its first death connected to the outbreak of COVID-19.
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The latest data released by the Florida Department of Health show there are now 14,747 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across the state, including 1,028 people who have tested positive in Northeast Florida.
Tuesday evening’s total represents an increase of 1,118 cases and 42 deaths compared to figures provided by the state Monday evening.
Of Northeast Florida’s 1,028 cases, Duval County leads the way with 521. The rest are in St. Johns (154), Alachua (139), Clay (88), Flagler (35), Nassau (27), Putnam (20), Columbia (16), Baker (15), Bradford (11) and Union (2) counties.
During a Tuesday news conference, Mayor Lenny Curry acknowledged the increase in Jacksonville cases, saying the total will likely grow as access to testing continues to expand.
“As we increase the availability of these tests, we fully expect the number of cases to increase,” Curry said. “The number of positive cases we’re seeing today are the results of testing operations.”
Even as Jacksonville’s percentage of positive tests (5.5%) hovers well below those of other major cities — Miami-Dade’s, for instance, is 18% — the mayor warned city residents not to get complacent.
“This is no time for us to rest and think that we’re out of this,” said Curry, who issued a safer-at-home order last week. “In order to keep the numbers low, we have to continue to practice social distancing. This is very important."
The mayor urged people to stay home when possible, avoid close contact with others, wear masks if they must go out in public and to wash their hands routinely, especially since the virus can be spread by asymptomatic individuals.
“It is the responsibility of all of us to follow these best practices,” Curry said. “I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: the virus doesn’t spread itself — we spread the virus.”
The latest death in Jacksonville was an 87-year-old woman who is believed to have had contacted with a confirmed case of COVID-19. Her death marks the 10th Jacksonville has seen and the 22nd overall across Northeast Florida.
Clay County now has seven deaths related to COVID-19. The latest death is a 76-year-old man who was diagnosed on Monday. It’s unknown if he had contact with a confirmed case.
The first death in Baker County was a 71-year-old woman who was also diagnosed on Monday.
(To view specific local data, you can track coronavirus cases by ZIP code.)
Breakdown of COVID-19 case data for area counties
So far, the state has administered 139,669 tests. The vast majority (89.4%) of those have come back negative.
But while Northeast Florida only recently topped 1,000 cases, it’s a different story in South Florida, which has quickly become the state’s epicenter.
Miami-Dade, for example, has seen 47 deaths and 320 hospitalizations among its 5,126 cases. Neighboring Broward County has recorded 54 deaths and 300 people hospitalized with 2,230 total cases. And in Palm Beach County, the data show 64 deaths 203 hospitalizations among 1,159 cases there.
Gov. Ron DeSantis, who imposed a statewide stay-at-home order last week, noted Monday that hospital bed scarcity has yet to become an issue. He noted that the state has roughly 44 percent bed availability. He said Miami-Dade and Broward counties are right around that mark.
“These are things that are monitored, you know, every day in terms of how those beds are being used,” said DeSantis, who noted that other contingency plans including field hospitals are being made. “I think you’ll see some other things that’ll be done.”