Florida’s COVID-19 positivity rate stays below 5% for last 7 days

Another 12 deaths reported in Northeast Florida, 140 deaths statewide

Samples are tested for respiratory viruses during a visit by Chancellor Rishi Sunak to the pathology labs at Leeds General Infirmary on March 12. (Photo by Danny Lawson - WPA Pool/Getty Images) (Getty Images)

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – As Florida reported another 140 deaths related to COVID-19 across the state, health department officials also reported Florida’s seventh straight date with a positivity rate below 5%.

Averaging the positivity rates over the last 14 days, Florida is at 4.77% -- under the threshold many experts say is needed for safely moving forward with reopening. Percent positivity is the figure used by state and local governments to weigh reopening decisions. It tracks the percent of positive results for new cases in Florida residents.

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Overall, Florida added another 3,204 cases of COVID-19 in data reported Frida by the Florida Department of Health. That brings Florida’s total to 677,660 cases. While that is down considerably from the daily cases seen in mid- to late-summer, it was the second-highest increase since Sept. 12 -- only behind Thursday’s increase of 3,255 cases.

Alachua County continues to see a surge in cases among young people. The county reported another 205 cases on Friday -- its eighth straight day with more than 100 cases. A chart on the state’s database showed 75% of the new cases among Florida residents were among those 25 years old and younger. The county has had more than 1,000 new cases in the last seven days, following a national trend of spikes in coronavirus infections in college towns.

Alachua County also reported two additional deaths Friday to bring its total to 46 since the pandemic began. One of those deaths was a 35-year-old woman who was first reported to the state as a coronavirus case on Aug. 13. According to the state, she did not have contact with a known case of COVID-19.

Duval County reported 180 new cases of coronavirus in Friday’s report, with five more deaths. Nassau and Union counties reported two additional deaths each, and Flagler County added one more death Friday -- a 74-year-old man whose COVID-19 case was first counted by the state Thursday.

Coronavirus deaths typically occur weeks or more after the disease is contracted and diagnosed. And the deaths reported in each day’s state data did not necessarily occur in the last 24 hours as the deaths often take many days to be reported to the state.

In the 11 Northeast Florida counties News4Jax has tracked through the pandemic, 730 total deaths have been reported since COVID-19 hit the state at the beginning of March.

Duval County’s positivity rate Thursday was 4.22% and has remained below 5% for more than a week.

County-by-county breakdown for Northeast Florida

Friday’s report came as the state’s largest teachers union called on Gov. Ron DeSantis and other state leaders to extend financial stability through the academic year, despite many districts experiencing lower-than-expected enrollment.

Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran issued an emergency order on July 6 which, among other requirements, allowed districts to receive state FTE funding based on the forecast enrollment rather than the enrollment gathered in an annual October survey.

During a virtual press conference Friday, the FEA called on the state to extend that financial continuity so that any enrollment shortfall that still exists during the annual February survey would not impact the respective district’s FTE-based funding.

Daily cases reported in Florida and Duval County since March

Common symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, cough, breathing trouble, 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.