Eight long-term care facilities in Duval County have had cases of COVID-19 among their residents or staff:
- Brookdale Avondale,
- Camellia At Deerwood,
- Cathedral Gerontology Center,
- Fannie E. Taylor Home For The Aged - Taylor Manor,
- Jacksonville Nursing And Rehab Center,
- Lanier Rehabilitation Center, Palm Garden of Jacksonville
- Wyndham Lakes Jacksonville
The eight were on the list of names the state of Florida on Saturday released for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic first took hold in early March.
Today, @GovRonDeSantis encouraged @HealthyFla to publish the names of long-term care facilities where a resident or staff member has tested positive for #COVID19. @HealthyFla has published the list here: https://t.co/DgPishTHdK
— Florida Dept. Health (@HealthyFla) April 18, 2020
Neighboring Clay County, the only First Coast county with more confirmed cases of COVID-19 among residents or staff of long-term care facilities, has six facilities on the list:
- Brookdale Orange Park,
- Diamond ALF,
- Governors Creek Health And Rehabilitation,
- Heartland Health Care Center - Orange Park,
- Isle Health And Rehabilitation Center,
- Seagrass Village Of Fleming Island
As of Friday evening, Duval County had 55 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among residents or staff of long-term care facilities and nine deaths. Clay County had 87 confirmed cases and four deaths associated with the facilities.
The following First Coast facilities also made the state's list:
St. Johns County
- Starling At Nocatee
Baker County
- Macclenny Nursing and Rehab Center
- W Frank Wells Nursing Home
Nassau County
- Life Care Center Of Hilliard
Putnam County
- Vintage Care Senior Housing
Gov. Ron DeSantis also announced on Saturday Florida's K-12 public schools will continue with distance learning for the rest of the school year to help stop the spread of the coronavirus.
DeSantis said he spoke with parents throughout the state before making the decision to cancel the remainder of in-person learning.
“Some parents were not interested in their kids going back, [for] some others it’s been tough around the house – they would’ve liked to see them go back,” he said. “But I think as we looked at the clock and we looked to see what it would look like, we’ve got pretty good momentum for distance learning.”
“It’s obviously not the ideal situation, but given where we are in the school year we felt that was the best decision to go forward,” he went on to say.
The governor initially closed schools in March. Since then, school districts have been using remote learning platforms.
Brendan Rivers can be reached at brivers@wjct.org, 904-358-6396 or on Twitter at @BrendanRivers.
