County expresses concern over recent student onboarding and increased COVID-19 positive testing

Alachua County released the following statement about recent student onboarding and COVID-19 positive testing locally:

 

“Alachua County is concerned about the recent increase in positive tests locally, statewide, nationally, and globally.

 

According to the Department of Health in Alachua County these local increases over the last several days have been primarily among people 18 to 25 years old. Increases are partially due to the onboarding of students and staff returning to various institutions and increased testing in general.

 

There has not been an associated direct increase in hospitalizations. It is important to understand that while many people with Covid-19 are persons who are pre-symptomatic, asymptomatic and in low risk groups, as they move through the community social distancing, hand washing, and facial coverings remain crucial to protecting our residents. We thank all of those sacrificing to keep our vulnerable family members, friends, and neighbors safe. We are all in this together.

 

There were 20 new positives cases today, and one death. Our COVID-19 total is 600 positive cases, 11 deaths, 32,347 tests performed with a positivity rate of 1.85%.”

 

Statewide there were  3,178 Florida residents and 29 non-Florida residents that tested positive for COVID-19, and 43 Florida deaths. Florida’s total positive case count is now at 85,926, and 3,061 deaths.

 

Nationally there were 25,559 positive COVID-19 cases yesterday, 2.1 million in total with 118,175 deaths.

 

Worldwide there are 8.4 million positive cases of COVID-19 in total, with 450,835 deaths. 

 

For more details locally, go to the Alachua County COVID-19 Recovery Dashboard.