On Monday, Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry and emergency response team leaders shared information about topics related to COVID-19.
Curry said that despite the surge in positive COVID-19 cases in Duval County, there are only 14 people currently in ICU units at local hospitals.
When asked where he was getting the data from, Mayor Curry said,
"Our Emergency Operations Center, they are in contact daily with local hospitals," and added that he too is in contact with the hospitals.
Though when asked where the public could readily access data regarding hospital admissions and ICU beds, Mayor Curry said data isn't provided online because of HIPPA regulations, and people would have to reach out to hospitals on their own for that info.
First Coast News is reaching out to local hospitals requesting COVID-19 related hospitalization information.
Curry correlated the surge in positive COVID-19 cases to a rise in the number of people being tested for the virus in addition to the added uncertainty of testing numbers over time.
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Last week, Curry said The Lot J testing site in Jacksonville set a new daily testing record. This comes after reports of a surge in positive cases along the First Coast.
Curry correlated the surge in positive COVID-19 cases to a rise in the number of people being tested for the virus.
“Just yesterday, 783 people were tested at Lot J, setting a record since it first opened," he explained in a pre-prepared statement sent to First Coast News Friday. "The Legends Center tested 270. Across the City, multiple private locations tested hundreds more for COVID-19. As a result, our positive test results are increasing, and we are aware that most of those individuals are asymptomatic or experience mild symptoms.”
He says the community spread is real and that without proper precautions, it could possibly get worse.
He says a large portion of the increased cases we're seeing are from what’s called “household spread” which means one individual is taking this virus home and spreading it through the entire household.