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Though vaccine distribution is well underway across the United States, the novel coronavirus continues to spread through the population. To date, there have been 28,711,000 reported cases of the virus nationwide -- and that number is growing every day.
In the Jacksonville metropolitan area, located in Florida, a total of 138,178 COVID-19 cases have been reported to date. Adjusted for population, there have been 9,366 reported infections for every 100,000 people in the area -- above the national rate of 8,776 cases per 100,000 people.
The higher than average per capita COVID-19 infection rate across Jacksonville is being driven disproportionately by one area in particular.
The broader Jacksonville metro area comprises five counties or county equivalents, which can include independent cities -- and of them, Baker County has the most COVID-19 cases per capita. So far, there have been a total of 3,312 infections in Baker County, or 11,920 for every 100,000 people.
Not only does Baker County have the most COVID-19 infections per capita in the Jacksonville area, it also has more deaths attributable to the virus per capita than the metro area as a whole. There have been a total of 202 coronavirus deaths for every 100,000 people in Baker County, compared to 129 COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 across the entire Jacksonville metro area.
All COVID-19 data used in this story are current as of Mar. 8, 2021.
| Rank: | Geography: | COVID cases per 100,000 people: | Total cases: | Deaths per 100,000 people: | Total deaths: |
| 1 | Baker County | 11,920 | 3,312 | 202 | 56 |
| 2 | Duval County | 9,720 | 89,831 | 132 | 1,219 |
| 3 | Nassau County | 9,690 | 7,808 | 144 | 116 |
| 4 | St. Johns County | 8,640 | 20,347 | 84 | 198 |
| 5 | Clay County | 8,143 | 16,880 | 152 | 315 |
These are all the counties in Florida where COVID-19 is slowing (and where it's still getting worse).