JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Six weeks after the Florida Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics first sent a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis urging him not to reopen schools until the percent positivity rate for coronavirus cases in Florida reached a certain threshold, the latest statistics from the Department of Health reveal substantial progress in Florida’s fight against COVID-19.
In a letter dated July 16, Dr. Paul Robinson, the president of the Florida Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, wrote:
“…physicians almost universally recommend that children not go to schools until the positive test rates is 3-5% over a rolling two-week average. If children go to school with such high infection rates, schools will be forced to close very quickly after opening, and many children and families will likely become ill…”
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The day that letter was written, Duval County’s one-day positivity rate for new COVID-19 cases was 10.6%.
Since then, the rate drop has dropped into the range the pediatricians recommended.
The 14-day rolling average, the figure mentioned in the letter, is now 4.93% in Duval County.
Here’s a look at how other counties are progressing.
- St. Johns County’s 14-day rolling average is 4.68%
- Clay County’s is 7.43%
- Nassau County’s is 8.32%
- Baker County is 6.82%.
Local epidemiologist Dr. Jonathan Kantor said it’s important not to look at only one number when considering whether the counties are making progress against COVID-19.
“The percent positivity needs to be taken in context with the actual number of active infections -- that includes the number of new infections as well as those people who are infected but are still recovering,” Kantor said.
Florida added 3,815 new COVID-19 cases on Friday and the state’s total for deaths increased by 88.
In contrast, on July 16, the Department of Health reported 13,965 new cases, and 156 new deaths.
Kantor also said hospitalization statistics are important to watch.
Friday afternoon, the state health department reported 248 COVID-19 patients in Duval County’s hospitals. Comparting that to July 16, there were 521 coronavirus patients in Duval County hospitals then.
Kantor said even though Florida appears to be flattening the curve, now is not the time to let down your guard, for you or your children in school.
“It’s easy to say, ‘Let’s open the schools.’ The trick is, what can we do to make sure that kids get to stay in school,” Kantor said. “That’s where it’s so important to make sure that we educate our kids about how important it is to be smart about social distancing, about doing whatever they can – and, of course, that’s only on an age-appropriate level.”
Kantor said no rate of infections can really be seen as victory against COVID-19 because the virus will continue to menace Floridians -- and all Americans -- until a vaccine is created, approved and put to the test.