JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Florida’s Department of Health reported 7,179 additional COVID-19 cases Tuesday -- the largest increase since Feb. 20 and well above the seven-day average of 5,662. That brings the state’s total since pandemic began to 1,918,100.
Jacksonville added 173 new cases Tuesday, closer to its average of 159 daily cases for the past week.
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Florida and Duval County daily COVID-19 increases since June 1, 2020
There were 140 additional deaths in the latest data from the state -- seven of those in Duval County and one in Alachua County.
The positivity rate for coronavirus tests completed Monday was 5.69%. All the counties in Northeast Florida had a lower positivity rate than the state except Columbia and Flagler.
There have been 79,731 hospitalizations attributed to the virus in the state -- 3,674 COVID-19 patients in hospital beds as of Tuesday afternoon.
According to the CDC, over 600 cases of COVID-19 variants have been verified in Florida, most of any state. That includes at least 599 cases of the U.K. variant, five of the Brazilian variant and one case of the variant initially identified in South Africa.
At least 3,084,403 people have been vaccinated in Florida, with 1,723,722 people in the state getting both shots that are needed. Four federally-run mass-vaccination sites open this week along with access to shots begins for school and law-enforcement personnel age 50 and above, and new rules to provide vaccines for people f any age with conditions that could complicate COVID-19 infections -- all of which should increase the rate of vaccinations statewide.