Lots of Duval County residents got this result from their at-home COVID tests in in August 2025. | Michelle Corum, Jacksonville Today
Published on September 17, 2025 at 11:12 am
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Q: The Jacksonville area is recording its most COVID-19 cases in almost a year. Cases in Duval County rose almost 900 from 1,512 cases in July to 2,411 in August, according to the Florida Department of Health.
Duval County had 800 cases in the weekly report of Aug. 29, but that number dropped by almost half the week of Sept. 5.
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Jacksonville Today reader Sherry C. says she and her father got COVID coming back to Florida on a plane. She wonders whether she should report her positive test anywhere so it could be tracked with other people.
She also asks:
I heard that one of the ways that researchers can track COVID is through sewer water testing. Is that true?
A: We took Sherry’s questions to Dr. Sunil Joshi, chief health officer for the city of Jacksonville. He says Floridians are not required to report at-home COVID test results.
However, the Florida Department of Health in Duval County tracks COVID cases month to month, and the Florida Department of Health requires hospitals to report positive test results through an elecronic portal.
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The mandatory reporting requirements call for health care practitioners, laboratories and facilities, including long-term care facilities, to report both negative and positive COVID-19 test results, including point-of-care rapid test results, within 24 hours of the result being known.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration also encourages people to report their positive or negative test results every time they use an at-home COVID-19 test. You can send your test result to MakeMyTestCount.org or use an app or other digital option for self-reporting that may be included with your test. (Report each test result one time.)
The data from MakeMyTestCount.org can help public health departments know how fast the virus is spreading. Health departments then can modify their response to COVID-19 in their local communities.
As for sewer tracking: Yes, it is happening, and results are reported every week to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
