Florida State Representative Angie Nixon (D-Jacksonville) expressed frustration and disappointment on Thursday after hearing the news of the planned new immigration detention center set to open soon at the Baker Correctional Institution in Sanderson.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on Thursday that he authorized the opening of an immigration detention center at the Baker Correctional Institution in Sanderson, shifting plans away from the previously considered site at Camp Blanding.

But those cases were not equally distributed throughout the state. The Florida Department of Health began including a ZIP code breakdown on its COVID-19 dashboard months ago, but with cases soaring beyond early expectations, the vast majority of the map is the same color: red. (Cases are sometimes initially listed in the ZIP code where the person was tested and some were never updated.) In Clay County, while the ZIP codes that include Orange Park, Fleming Island and Middleburg have the highest number of cases, southeast Clay, including Green Cove Springs, have the most cases per capita. The area of Nassau County that includes Fernandina Beach had the most cases of COVID-19 in the county, but the ZIP code including Yulee had a higher rate of infections -- 1 in 16 -- matching the state average.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – More than 16,000 Florida prison inmates have tested positive for COVID-19 and 120 have died, according to numbers released Friday by the state Department of Corrections. An additional 85 inmates were reported to have tested positive, bringing the total since the start of the pandemic to 16,081. Also, an additional inmate death was reported Friday, bringing the total to 120. More than 500 inmates have tested positive at nine prisons -- Baker Correctional Institution, Century Correctional Institution, Columbia Correctional Institution, Graceville Correctional Facility, Lowell Correctional Institution, Mayo Annex, Santa Rosa Correctional Institution, Suwannee Correctional Institution and Taylor Correctional Institution, department numbers show. Also Friday, the department reported that an additional 18 corrections workers had tested positive, bringing the total to 2,973.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Florida lawmakers say steps need to be taken to help stop the spread of the coronavirus in state prisons. For months, state lawmakers say theyve been calling on Gov. Keith Harris with the Florida Justice League, a group advocating for criminal defense, says the group is currently processing a rule that the group says the DOC is not using. Harris says this rule is a consistent pattern to help thin out prison populations and is more effective than going through court hearings. The Florida Justice League is encouraging legislators to ask the DOC to engage prisons in using this rule.

SANDERSON, Fla. You might see the headline that Baker County set a record with 102 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday. Whats behind this big surge in a small county is an outbreak within Baker Correctional Institution in Sanderson. According to the Florida Department of Corrections, there were 266 cases among inmates at Baker Correctional as of Friday -- 42% the 630 total number of cases the state Health Department data shows for the county. Baker Correctional is now providing medical services and meals to inmates within their cells. According to the Department of Corrections, 11,000 inmates have been diagnosed and 63 inmates have died from COVID-19.