Coronavirus: Duval County cases surpass 20,000, Florida death toll reaches 6,000

Florida Times-Union - 7/27/2020

Duval County recorded its 20,000th case to date and Florida's COVID-19 death toll surpassed 6,000, but new positive cases decreased to their lowest level for nearly three weeks in Monday's report on the coronavirus pandemic.

The Florida Department of Health recorded an additional 8,892 positive tests for the coronavirus in Florida, raising the state's total to 432,747 to date.

The cases added across the state were the fewest since July 7, when the daily report listed 7,347 additional positive tests.

Florida's overall death toll from the virus has now increased to 6,049, made up of 5,931 residents and 118 non-residents.

Duval County's cumulative death toll is now 143 after adding four deaths, listed by the health department as a 91-year-old man, an 83-year-old woman, a 74-year-old woman and a 79-year-old woman.

St. Johns County also added its 20th and 21st deaths, a 64-year-old woman and a 79-year-old man. The overall toll for Northeast Florida now stands at 236.

The newly-reported deaths, 77, were the fewest since the July 13 report, when the state added 35. The day-to-day increase of hospitalizations listed by the health department, 268, was also the fewest since July 13. The numbers of the Sunday report were also lower than in most recent days, although both Sunday and Monday reports have typically added lower numbers than other days since the early days of the pandemic.

Because of reporting lags, new statistics for both cases and deaths reflect events that often occurred multiple days earlier.

Duval County recorded 248 new cases, raising its cumulative total to 20,001. St. Johns County added 64 more cases, Clay County 39, Nassau County 26, Baker County 10 and Putnam County seven.

However, the statewide positivity rate -- the percentage of tests processed Sunday to yield positive results -- increased slightly to 15.10 percent across the state, as computed by the health department.

For much of Northeast Florida, that rate continued its decreasing trend, dropping slightly to 8.6 percent in Duval County. Baker County's positivity rate decreased to 6.3 percent, while Clay County fell to 8.1 percent and Putnam County fell to 4.6 percent. The rate in Nassau County rose to 10.6 percent for tests processed Monday, and St. Johns County went up to 10.0 percent.

The Agency for Health Care Administration reported Monday morning a statewide total of 9,044 currently hospitalized patients with a "primary" diagnosis of COVID-19, an increase of 93 compared to Sunday.

Duval County listed 490 current COVID-19 hospitalizations as of 10:55 a.m., an increase of three from Sunday. Baker County listed 35, up 2; Clay County listed 86, up 1; Nassau County listed 4, down 1; Putnam County listed 22, down 2; and St. Johns County listed 35, unchanged.

Across the state, 3,867 of the hospitalized COVID-19 patients, or more than 42 percent of the total, are located in Miami-Dade, Broward or Palm Beach counties.

The numbers from the state have not always been consistent. Among other discrepancies, a formerly-listed death dropped off Duval County's list in Sunday's report without explanation.

Statewide

Cases: 432,747

Total hospitalizations: 24,332

Current hospitalizations: 9,044

Resident deaths: 5,931

Cases in Northeast Florida

Duval: 20,001

Clay: 2,577

St. Johns: 2,993

Nassau: 967

Baker: 310

Putnam: 1,176