CLAY COUNTY – The local death toll for COVID-19 grew to 33 with the addition of a 73-year-old woman in Clay County this week. Her death was added to the list on June 19 – one month since the last reported death on May 19.
Overall, 523 people have tested positive with the novel coronavirus, including 39 current residents of long-term care facilities. The county has tested 15,020 residents, with 3.5% being found to be positive.
In all, 23 of the deaths were from assisted living centers or nursing homes.
Facilities that have reported deaths are: Governors Creek Health and Rehabilitation in Green Cove Springs (nine), Heartland Health Care Center of Orange Park (four), Diamond Assisted Living and Memory Care of Green Cove Springs (five), Seagrass Village of Fleming Island (two), Life Care Center of Orange Park (one), Life Care Center of Wells Crossing (one) and Allegro (one).
The highest concentration of cases is in the Orange Park area where 129 people have been reported to be infected in the 32073 zip code.
All but three of the infected are residents. The Florida Health Department reported 302 of the patients are women and 218 are men. The sex of other patients hasn’t been reported.
Because numbers are reported at different times from a variety of sources and there's confusion between dying of COVID-19 and dying with COVID-19, the state is constantly updating and correcting its figures. Figures reported by long-term care facilities also reflect significant changes on a daily basis.
The ages of the infected range from 6 to 100. One hundred one have required hospitalization; the rest are in self-quarantine.
In response, several collection sites have been established in the county.
A free drive through testing site for Clay County residents is open at the Florida Department of Health at the Clay County Administrative Offices at 1305 Idlewild Ave., in Green Cove Springs. Appointments are accepted from 8 a.m.-noon and 1-4 p.m. Call (877) 252-9362 to make an appointment. You do not need to have signs or symptoms to be tested.
Other locations include.
Five additional test collection sites now are open in Clay County – Palms Medical Group in Orange Park (904-688-3000), Aza Heath in Green Cove Springs (904-284-5904) and Keystone Heights (352-473-6595) and CareSpot Middleburg (904-406-8240) and Orange Park (904-213-0600) are a seeing patients, insured and non-insured, who exhibit symptoms of the coronavirus. Clay County residents also can be tested at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville.
As of Wednesday afternoon, 109,014 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in Florida. The state’s death toll was 3,281.