JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The number of people testing positive for COVID-19 in Florida hasbeen creeping back up since Halloween.
As Florida heads closer to 900,000 coronavirus cases, the percent positive is also going up.
According to the Florida Department of Health, the percent positive rate was 5.79% statewide on Oct. 31.
Since then, it’s been steadily increasing, reaching 8.31% on Nov. 9.
Action News Jax’s, Medical Expert Dr. Michelle Aquino with Baptist, said there are a few reasons for the uptick.
“I think we’re not behaving the way we should — that’s No. 1, No. 2, it seems to be spreading maybe in the younger population a little bit,” said Aquino.
In Jacksonville, the percent positive of new cases hit a recent high of 9% on Tuesday. That’s more than double what it was just five days prior.
According to Dr. Aquino, Jacksonville hasn’t reached a peak.
“Our numbers are reasonable. Still, we haven’t really seen a big spike in hospitalizations. W definitely have COVID patients in the hospital, but our numbers have not peaked yet,” said Aquino.
And with Thanksgiving only two weeks away, Dr. Aquino said college students may want to rethink going home.
“It’s going to be full of a lot of tough choices for many families because a lot of the kids probably shouldn’t come home. It won’t be that safe,” she said.
Dr. Aquino said the numbers we’ve seen are also a reflection of the COVID-19 fatigue many people are feeling right now.