JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The death of 88-year-old Donald Haws came as a shock to his five children. Their dad moved into independent living at Jacksonville senior facility, Camellia at Deerwood, two years ago with his wife Loraine. He had just bought a new car,” said daughter Barbara Haws. The Haws family says their father rapidly succumbed to the novel coronavirus, an illness that has killed at least 70 people in Florida and nearly 3,000 people in the United States. RELATED | Donald Haws obituary“I don’t think they will ever know how my dad got it.

Long-term care facilities in Northeast Florida, like Camellia at Deerwood, have become focal points for health care officials since the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. That means over 44% of the reported COVID-19 cases in long-term care facilities in the state are in Northeast Florida. According to the report from the city, at least one other person staying at an assisted-living facility in Clay County has died due to the virus. There have been five total deaths in Clay County associated with COVID-19, according to the health department. News4Jax has requested the name of any other facilities experiencing outbreaks in Northeast Florida from the Florida Department of Health, the Agency for Health Care Administration and Gov.