Five cases of malaria have been detected in the U.S. in the last two months.

The U.S. on Wednesday authorized updated COVID-19 boosters for children as young as 5

As warned, the Biden administration suspended its offer of free at-home rapid tests through Covid.gov/tests on Friday.

Florida has now counted more than 7 million cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

There are currently more than 1,800 cases across the U.S., according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Health officials are taking more steps to slow the spread of monkeypox. They're now making a vaccine available to more people who could be at risk.

Florida has above 1,000 adults hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19 for the first time since March, according to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services data.

The United States is approaching a grim milestone: 1 million deaths from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.

For the first time since the pandemic began, one local hospital group has lifted its mask mandates in parts of its buildings. It’s happening as the average number of reported COVID cases are on the rise in Florida.

The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday authorized another COVID-19 booster for people age 50 and older.

Moderna has now joined Pfizer in asking the Food and Drug Administration to approve a fourth shot of its COVID-19 vaccine.

The CDC released new numbers, that show about 43% of the country has already been affected by the virus.

The message from health leaders in Northeast Florida on Friday: COVID-19 cases continue to trend down.

It has never been easier to get your hands on an at-home COVID-19 test.

The omicron-fueled surge that is sending COVID-19 cases rocketing in the U.S. is putting children in the hospital in record numbers.

When it comes to treatment of COVID-19, options are limited, and the omicron variant has proved to be an even bigger challenge for providers.

Omicron may not be as prevalent as first thought, but it does remain the dominant variant in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Hello, Jacksonville! Kent here, during the final week of the holidays and the end of 2021.

There’s now another treatment option for COVID-19.

As Americans get ready for the holidays, COVID-19 cases are surging in parts of the United States.

There are now more than 40 cases of the omicron variant in the U.S., including in Florida and Georgia.

No end in sight: That’s what doctors and health officials say about the latest surge in COVID-19 cases in Jacksonville.

The rate of coronavirus cases and the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to climb in Northeast Florida.

For the first time in nearly two decades, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is keeping tabs on a rare case of a disease known as monkeypox in the United States.

The COVID-19 vaccination rate among Florida’s nursing home workers is the second lowest nationally, only above the state of Louisiana, according to newly released data from AARP.

Children are among patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in Jacksonville, according to doctors and nurses.

As new COVID-19 infections surge in Jacksonville, local health experts say an overwhelming majority of cases they’re seeing are the result of the Delta variant, now the dominant strain nationwide.

In just one day, COVID-19 cases at Jacksonville hospitals have seen a considerable increase, News4Jax learned Wednesday.

As more and more cases of the Delta variant of COVID-19 crop up nationwide, health experts in Jacksonville say they’re seeing a growing number of infections linked to the variant.

Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy on Wednesday made another plea for Americans to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as the more contagious delta variant becomes the dominant strain.

Jacksonville hospitals are seeing a rise in COVID-19 cases, with the number of patients at some facilities doubling in the last two weeks.

There was a sense of back to normal when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear masks. On Friday, the World Health Organization came out and said masks should stay on.

Health experts say one in every five new cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. is of the delta variant.

As state-run vaccination sites in Jacksonville get ready to permanently close this week, health officials are watching as a new variant of the coronavirus continues to spread.

Ron DeSantis announced Monday that the state will lower the age for people to get a COVID-19 vaccine from 65 to 60 next week. “That will apply across the board at all of the state pods, all of the pharmacies, all of the different drive-thru sites that are being operated,” DeSantis said. “If you’re 60 plus, you will be able to get sign up and be able to get the vaccine.”The age change is effective March 15. The change comes as the demand from seniors is decreasing and the federal vaccination sites throughout the state continue to see a low turnout of eligible people. DeSantis also said the increased supply also makes appointments to get a vaccine at grocery stores and pharmacies easier to obtain.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Duval County Health Department confirmed Friday that one case of the COVID variant first identified in the United Kingdom has been found in Jacksonville. According to data from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated Thursday evening, 347 cases of this B.1.1.7 variant have been found in Florida. That more than one-third of the 981 cases identified in the United States so far. This announcement of a variant in Jacksonville comes one day after a student at the University of Central Florida was diagnosed with the U.K. variant of the coronavirus, which is thought to be more easily transmissible. The unidentified student tested positive this week, Michael Deichen, associate vice president of UCF Student Health Services said Thursday in a statement on the university’s website.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – State health officials in Florida say if coronavirus vaccine doses at state vaccination clinics are set to expire and have gone unused, the state will immediately relocate the doses. The Florida Division of Emergency Management press secretary gave the example of doses hours away from spoiling being delivered to long-term care facilities or to another site in the area. Medical workers at the state vaccination clinic at Regency Square Mall in Jacksonville asked bystanders in the parking lot on Jan. 21 if they wanted to be vaccinated. AdFlorida Department of Health in Duval County officials could only speak for the Prime Osborn vaccination site, which is only administering second doses of the Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine. UF Health epidemiologist Chad Neilsen says planning for unused doses on the brink of expiration is a dilemma medical institutions across the country are facing.

But they still had unused COVID-19 shots left over. Once at a certain temperature for a certain amount of time, Neilsen said the vaccine spoils and falls apart internally. “We do have sort of a waiting list. If people you know, miss an appointment, for some reason, we can pull from a waiting list and pull other people in,” Neilsen said. He says there has to be a common-sense solution instead of throwing away leftover doses of the vaccine.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Just as the country has watched confirmed cases of COVID-19 rise, there is now another number to watch for: cases of a new, more contagious variant. California had been the U.S. epicenter of the new strain -- now with 40 confirmed cases, according to the CDC -- but Florida has since eclipsed that. As of Sunday, according to the CDC, there were 122 confirmed cases of the new strain in the United States. Florida is now approaching 1.6 million confirmed cases, with more than 24,800 people in the state who have died related to the disease. Between limited testing and the variant being more than 50% more contagious than the original strain, Neilsen warns that the number of cases infecting people is much higher.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Despite the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and White House Coronavirus Task Force saying Jacksonville is in the red zone when it comes to the coronavirus, local hospitals say the number of COVID-19 patients here has dipped slightly. A recent report from the White House Coronavirus Task Force says Florida and Duval County are in the midst of a full COVID-19 resurgence, and in turn management at several Jacksonville hospitals acknowledged they have been dealing with the surge. But Chad Neilsen, infectious disease director for UF Health Jacksonville, said the numbers are leveling out in the last two days. “I do think largely the Mayor’s Office extending the mask mandate across Duval County helped,” Neilsen told News4Jax. Across Baptist Health’s five facilities throughout Northeast Florida, there are 177 COVID-19 patients, 36 of them in the ICU.

One of them is Baptist Medical Center Nassau, which had no available ICU space as of Monday evening, according to the state Agency for Health Care Administration. By Tuesday afternoon, one ICU bed had become available there, but across Northeast Florida, ICU availability was low. Now, with cases soaring, some medical facilities are preparing to stretch their ICU resources to the limit. And so when it does occur, we’ll be ready.”If a hospital’s ICU space is filled up, Neilsen said, staff will look around for other hospitals in the area that might have available space. Also, larger hospitals can temporarily convert some existing space into an ICU if more is needed.

He’s reminding the public that not everything posted on social media is true. In Pfizer’s trial, all four participants who experienced Bell’s palsy received the vaccine. In Moderna’s trial, three participants who experienced Bell’s palsy got the vaccine, one got the placebo. “These things will occur naturally.”The FDA recognized these cases of Bell’s palsy before approving Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine but says there is no evidence to link the two. The FDA is now recommending surveillance of cases of Bell’s palsy as more people get the vaccine.

Pharmacy director Heather Maturin unpacks vials of the first doses of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in a refrigerator at Ochsner Hospital on O'Neal Lane, Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020, in Baton Rouge, La. (Bill Feig/The Advocate via AP, Pool)JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The News4Jax Trust Index team is fact checking a statement made by Gov. Ron DeSantis, where he suggested that one dose of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine is enough to protect the person receiving it. Vaccine makers Pfizer and Moderna both say recipients won’t get full protection, however, from COVID-19 until a week after their second dose. While the first dose might provide some protection against COVID-19, Neilsen says the public should trust scientists and not politicians.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – As the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine continues to roll out -- another 100 more employees at UF Health Jacksonville got the shots on Tuesday -- experts are closely monitoring recipients for any side effects. David Meysenburg, the division director of critical care at UF Health, was one of the first to receive the vaccine on Monday. Really, after any kind of medication, there’s a possibility you’re going to have some kind of reaction or symptoms,” Meysenburg said. Unlike some flu vaccines, the COVID-19 shot does not contain a live virus. “Instead, this vaccine uses MRNA technologies, so, in essence, we are basically fooling the body into activating the immune system against COVID-19,” said is Chad Neilsen, director of infection prevention at UF Health Jacksonville.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – UF Health Jacksonville received its first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine on Monday and the first 10 shots will be administered before noon, a spokesperson for the hospital told News4Jax. Chad Neilsen, UF Health Jacksonville director of accreditation and infection prevention, said that once the hospital gets its first shipment, it will start giving vaccines to its high-risk and high-exposure health care workers as soon as possible, including doctors and nurses in the emergency department and those working in the COVID-19 unit. CEO Leon Haley, who is also an emergency physician, will get the first of 10 shots given on Monday. UF Health will also deliver the vaccine to other hospitals in the area. The first shipments of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine headed out from Michigan Sunday morning.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – As the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) prepares to review Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine this week, hospitals in Northeast Florida are prioritizing which healthcare workers will be the first to receive the vaccine in the case they don’t receive enough to vaccinate all willing staff members. UF Health in Jacksonville is one of five hospitals in the state – and the only hospital in Northeast Florida – to be selected to receive and distribute Pfizer’s vaccine to surrounding hospitals. The Centers for Disease Control and other federal agencies have already identified healthcare workers and residents of long-term care facilities as the first who should receive the vaccines in phase one of the roll-out. So, we have to be sensitive to that and again, this is a new vaccine,” said Neilsen. Megan Kennedy is the Vice President of Operations at Starling, a company that runs several long-term care facilities across Northeast Florida.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – UF Health Jacksonville said it is expecting a recent surge in COVID-19 patients to get worse. “Currently, here at UF Health Jacksonville, we do have the capacity to continue to accept other patients,” said Neilsen, who also described more about the age of patients being treated for the virus. Across the city of Jacksonville and the Duval County area, we are seeing some of that young age, so an average age of new cases is still hovering around 40.”Neilsen said he expects UF Health Jacksonville to receive the first vaccine, if approved, as early as a week from Monday. Neilsen explained why he believes if the vaccine is granted approval, Americans should be confident it is safe. They are making sure everything passes muster and that this is a safe efficacious vaccine,” Neilsen said.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Pandemic fatigue: It’s a phrase we’ve all heard and now a new poll reveals just how bad it is. For mother Dia Harris, that fatigue set in early. That same Gallup poll revealed about a quarter of Americans say they are worried about hospital resources. Neilsen warns a lax mentality and fatigue now could create problems down the line. “That’s not to say we couldn’t have a second hospitalization wave here in Florida," Neilsen said.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Florida Department of Health is changing how it reports positive cases of COVID-19 and related data, saying the move is in an effort to be more transparent and accurate. The previously reported cumulative number did not reflect the current status of the pandemic in Florida. As noted in the above statement by the DOH, another change will be how it calculates a percent positive number. “If you divide straight who’s positive divided by who’s tested, before it would include all those serial positive people,” Neilsen said. Serial positive people are those who tested positive for the virus and then continued to test positive in the days after.

Beginning Monday, alcohol will be served at restaurants and bars in the area until 2 a.m. instead of midnight. The decision comes as the state announces all bars in Florida will be able to reopen Monday to serve customers alcohol on-site at 50% capacity. News4Jax in June reported that some Jacksonville Beach bars and restaurants closed after customers and staff tested positive, shortly after bars and restaurants were told they could partially reopen for on-site service. The additional two hours to serve alcohol at restaurants and bars will apply to spots in Atlantic, Jacksonville and Neptune beaches. If they want to keep the bars open and continue to come out they have to follow the rules.

With kids going back to school were still in the middle of a Covid pandemic and what we want to avoid is having two pandemics or two epidemics going on at the same time, he said. Doctors worry parents wont get their kids vaccinated for the flu. Dr. Rathore encourages parents to get their children vaccinated as soon as possible, especially if theyve never had the shot before. One myth that doctors say continues to persist is that the flu shot can give you the flu. While the flu can make you sick for five to seven days, if youre vaccinated doctors say it could be more like three to five days instead.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. For the fourth straight day, the Florida Department of Health reported a record number of COVID-19 related deaths in Florida. In Fridays updated state data, another 257 deaths were added, bringing the states total to 6,966 deaths of residents and visitors since the pandemic began. The highest number of daily deaths reported in the U.S. during the pandemic has been 760, in New York at the height of its outbreak in mid-April. Duval County has now reported 153 deaths, Clay has reported 48, St. Johns 26 and Alachua 21. An additional 78 cases were added Friday in Alachua County, which had a positivity rate of 6.3% on Thursday.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. For the third day in a row Thursday, the Florida Department of Healths updated COVID-19 database showed more additional coronavirus-related deaths than the state had previously seen in one day. Thursdays state report shows an additional 253 deaths of Florida residents, but the non-Florida resident deaths total went down by one, so the total deaths increase statewide from Wednesdays report to Thursdays report was 252. The highest number of daily deaths reported in the U.S. during the pandemic has been 760, in New York at the height of its outbreak in mid-April. Daily COVID-19 cases reported in Florida, JacksonvilleGov. The state reported that about 9,030 people were hospitalized Monday morning with coronavirus, about a 2% drop from Friday.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. With less than two weeks until the first Northeast Florida school districts are scheduled to begin their school year, a major group of pediatricians Wednesday released recommendations aimed at reducing COVID-19 risks to children and teachers. The Florida Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, in an 11-page white paper sent to Gov. Ron DeSantis, pointed to significant benefits of children going back to school but also said those benefits have to be weighed against the risks. Since an exposure will inevitably occur, keeping students in cohorts would be important for subsequent testing, tracing, and isolation/quarantine if an exposure occurs, the white paper said. Also, the report said schools should make every effort to hire school nurses to help manage issues related to the virus.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Florida is now releasing the number of people in each county currently hospitalized for the novel coronavirus. Until now, the state had only released the total number of people hospitalized since the pandemic began. UF Health is staying busy these days, especially as more people infected with the coronavirus show up needing help. Now that Jacksonville is officially a coronavirus hotspot as the number of people who test positive for the virus continues to climb, UF Health director of infection prevention Chad Neilsen said they are keeping a close eye on the hospitals supply of personal protective equipment. But as more patients pour into the hospital, PPE is going to go on a surge again, he said.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. More than 600 new cases of the coronavirus were reported Wednesday in Duval County, pushing Jacksonvilles caseload over 10,000. UF Health reported 74 total cases and 23 patients in the ICU for the coronavirus. Then, you can click on Duval County. The page will list every hospital in Duval County. You can also scroll over to get the same kind of information for pediatric ICU beds. Its worth noting that ICU bed information is constantly being updated throughout the day, and not every patient in the ICU is a COVID-19 patient.

Fourth of July fireworks in Jacksonville will still go on as planned, despite a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks. The city-sponsored Independence Day fireworks will take off from six locations in whats planned to be Jacksonvilles largest display ever. We are prepared to act if theres an urgent need to act, said Jacksonville Beach Mayor Charlie Latham about beaches being open. This isnt over, said UF Health infectious disease expert Chad Neilsen, who holds a masters degree in public health. The city of Jacksonville will launch fireworks from six locations this 4th of July.

Rick Scott that the strain now circulating in Florida is less aggressive caught people who study these things by surprise. So theres some reports globally out of Italy that theres a less aggressive strain circulating, but certainly were still telling people to be careful and not be lax about this, Rolle said. A News4Jax scan of recent scientific literature found limited speculation about a less aggressive strain of COVID-19. On the contrary, there were reports of a mutated strain of the virus that makes it more infectious. At this point, there is no data to back up the claim that the COVID-19 strain spreading rapidly in Florida is less aggressive.