JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The numbers have dropped in the two days since Florida saw its highest daily increase in coronavirus cases since the pandemic began. While it’s way too early to call this a trend, forgive us if we see a couple of days of decline in new cases as good news.
The Department of Health reported Monday that 6,336 positive COVID-19 tests came back across the state -- a big number but well below Saturday’s peak of 11,458. Sunday’s daily number was 10,059 as the state surpassed 200,000 cases since testing began in early March.
Recommended Videos
Duval County, which also saw record peaks in new cases last week, had 341 positive tests for the virus reported Monday -- its smallest increase in six days. But Jacksonville’s percent of people testing positive remained at 14% on Sunday -- four times the average of positive tests being recorded a month ago.
Clay, Nassau, Putnam and St. Johns counties, which also set new daily peaks of COVID-19 cases late last week, each saw more moderate increases on Monday.
But before we put too much stock in this brief dip in positive cases, there was a similar drop last week before the state and Duval County saw record caseloads in the last five days. And, as the chart of daily cases below shows and our commenters are quick to point out, we often see the numbers drop on Mondays and after holiday weekends as the number of tests that come back are lower.
Florida reached 100,000 cases on June 22, more than three months after the effects of the coronavirus began to be felt in the state, so Florida has added more than 106,000 cases in less than two weeks.
There were 57 additional deaths in the state’s report Monday, including a fourth death in Columbia County -- a 74-year-old man who had contact with someone who had coronavirus. His illness was noted by the Department of Health on June 28.
Amid the surge, Gov. Ron DeSantis has focused on steps the state has taken, such as boosting protections for nursing-home residents, as seniors and people with underlying medical conditions -- pretty much the definition of nursing-home residents -- are particularly vulnerable to the disease.
DeSantis also has tried to drive home the message that many new infections are occurring in young adults, who are less likely to suffer severe medical consequences.
“It’s been a huge shift. The case growth has really been in that 18- to-34, -35 age group,” DeSantis said during a news conference Thursday with Vice President Mike Pence in Tampa. “Now, those are folks that are by and large going to be much less prone to significant consequences. Nevertheless, with the increasing positivity rate, it’s clear that you’re seeing more and more community transmission really being driven by that age group. And so, if you’re someone in one of the medically vulnerable conditions, or you’re an older person, just understand that that’s out there, continue to be vigilant.”
Chief physician at Baptist Health in Jacksonville, Elizabeth Ransom, confirms the positive cases they’re seeing lately are younger and, generally, not as sick as the patients they were seeing early on in the pandemic.
“In fact, even though we are seeing a number of patients coming in through the emergency department who are positive, many of those patients are not sick enough to be admitted,” Ransom told News4Jax. “In fact, the patients that do need to be admitted into the hospital, many of those don’t require care in the ICU or on the ventilator, which is definitely a positive difference in what we saw early on.”
Miami-Dade County, which has seen close to 2,000 new cases each day this month, announced Monday it was closing restaurants — with the exception of delivery and takeout services -- effective Wednesday. Before the holiday weekend, Mayor Carlos Gimenez instituted a curfew and closed of many entertainment venues.
Democrats have blasted DeSantis for not taking steps such as requiring face masks to be worn in public places statewide to prevent spread of the disease. Many local governments -- including Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Palatka and Nassau County -- have required face masks, but DeSantis has declined to issue a statewide mandate or to backtrack from economic reopening efforts that started in May and expanded in June.
News Service of Florida contributed to this report.