Florida closes 2020 with the highest one-day increase in COVID-19 cases

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Florida ended 2020 with a record-high one-day increase in coronavirus cases, according to data released by the state Department of Health on Thursday.

Florida reported 17,192 more COVID-19 cases – obscuring the previous one-day high of 15,300 cases that were in the midst of the summer increase on July 12th.

Since March 1, there have been 1,332,315 residents and people visiting the state diagnosed with COVID-19.

Of these, 323,996 were reported in December alone, accounting for nearly a quarter (24.5%) of state affairs over the past ten months.

Duval County added 997 cases of coronavirus in Thursday’s data. Since the pandemic began, there have been 61,321 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Jacksonville.

St. Johns, Nassau and Flagler counties one day set records for newly established cases. St. Johns County reported 244 additional cases, Nassau County added 110 cases and Flagler County 87 new cases.

There were 133 additional deaths reported in Florida on Thursday, bringing the state’s total to 21,990. Four of them were in Northeast Florida: two in Clay County and one each in the counties of St. Louis. Johns and Alachua.

There were 6,363 people hospitalized in the state Thursday afternoon with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19 – including 418 in Duval, 98 in Clay and 179 in Alachua County, according to the state database.

After an extraordinary increase in a positive rate of 22.81% on Monday that the state attributed to testing closures of the holiday, the state fell back to an 8.72% positive percentage in Tuesday’s data and a positive rate of 11.57% on Wednesday.

According to the state’s vaccination panel: 23,269 first doses were administered on Wednesday, bringing the total in the state to 211,165. Vaccinations were given Tuesday to the first senior citizens who are not in long-term care facilities, and some counties in Northeast Florida have begun planning appointments to administer vaccines to 65-year-olds and older in their communities.

RELATED: COVID 19 Vaccine in Northeast Florida: What We Know Per Country

The first vaccines for the general public in Northeast Florida will be administered Monday.