Monitor Editor
GREEN COVE SPRINGS— The Florida Department of Health’s Clay County administrator told county commissioners that new, weekly COVID cases in the county continued to decline in September.
Heather Huffman told commissioners during their Sept. 14 meeting that new daily cases averaged 134 in the first week of September and dropped to 118 in the second week.
“At one point we were between 1,500 and1,600 cases a week,” she said. “This past Sunday marked the 18th month from our first case of COVID, so we are still trudging along.”
Huffman added that the 5-to-14-year-old age bracket now has the highest positivity rate, and that the Middleburg zip code continues to lead the county in percentage of new cases.
She added that of the nearly 600 Clay County deaths related to the virus, 204 of those fatalities occurred in July and August of 2021.
“About 35% of all of our deaths have come in those last two months,” she said, “so, you will see probably some more deaths occur as we get that data in September.”
Huffman added that because of the time it takes for fatality data to work through the state’s vital statistics database, more deaths could be attributed to the virus for August.
Huffman told commissioners that 54% of Clay County residents are now fully vaccinated.
“We are seeing a slowdown of first doses,” she said. “We were seeing, during the surge of the Delta variant, much more interest in the vaccine: about 500 to 700 doses a day. Now we’re only seeing about 200 doses a day for the county.”
Huffman urged unvaccinated residents to get the shots.
“This isn’t the time to kind of take off the throttle,” she said.
Huffman also urged immuno-compromised individuals to get the third dose now available to them.
She added that research has indicated that the original two-dose vaccination was not as effective for immuno-compromised individuals as it was for the general population.
Huffman also said that for individuals seeking the monoclonal antibody treatment, no appointment or referral is necessary because the state’s surgeon general signed a standing order authorizing the treatment for any resident seeking the infusion.
She added that as far as she knows, the closest state-sponsored sights administering the monoclonal antibodies infusions are the downtown Jacksonville library and a second sight in the city of High Springs, within Alachua County.
Huffman concluded by remining the public that flu season begins in October and that residents should get vaccinated for the viral infection.
“It kills about 30,000 to 60,000 people a year, so it does have a mortality rate,” she said. “If you’ve ever had the flu, you don’t wish it on your worst enemy.”
