Florida closes 2020 with a one-day higher increase in COVID-19 cases

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Florida ended 2020 with a record one-day increase in confirmed coronavirus cases, according to data released Thursday by the state health department.

Florida reported 17,172 more cases of COVID-19, which eclipsed the one-day maximum of 15,300 cases set for July 12 in the middle of summer.

Since March 1, there have been 1,323,315 residents and people who have visited the state diagnosed with COVID-19.

Of these, 323,996 were reported in December, representing almost a quarter (24.5%) of cases in the state in the last ten months.

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

The counties of St. Johns, Nassau and Flagler set one-day records for recently confirmed cases. The county of St. Johns reported an additional 244 cases, Nassau County added 110 cases, and Flagler County reported 87 new cases.

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

There were 6,363 people admitted to 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 unusual rise to a positivity rate of 22.81% on Monday that the state attributed to test closures after the holidays, the state returned to 8.72% in the data for Tuesday and 11.57% on Wednesday.

According to the state vaccination board: 23,269 first doses were administered on Wednesday, bringing the state total to 211,165. Vaccines were given to the first seniors who were not in long-term care centers on Tuesday, and some Northeast Florida counties have begun scheduling appointments to administer vaccines to those 65 and older in their communities.

RELATED: COVID-19 vaccine in northeast Florida: what we know by county

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