JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry said the city's rate of positive tests for COVID-19 is consistently trending fewer than 7% positive cases, which he said is the lowest of any major metropolitan area in the state of Florida.
That was the update at a virtual press conference that came one day after his safer-at-home order instructing all nonessential businesses in Duval County to close by Friday. The virtual conference elaborated on the details and restrictions of the order, but also updated the public on the ongoing testing for the virus.
Curry said the percentage of positives is an aggregate number of all tests performed. It is calculated by the Department of Health. Still, many tests are pending.
Curry said his order, effective at 12:01 a.m. Friday, requires people to stay at home, with exceptions for critical or essential needs. He said people are still permitted to walk, run or go for a bike ride as long as they practice social distancing, remaining six feet apart at all times, and continue washing their hands for at least 20 seconds.
“This is going to be a tough 30 days for all of us here in Jacksonville," Curry said. "If we continue to flatten the curve we will come out of this quicker."
As of noon Thursday, Curry reported 271 cases of COVID-19 in Jacksonville. While that means there were 50 additional cases added from overnight, Curry said that doesn't mean there are 50 "new" cases all of a sudden. He said "a very relevant number to look at" is the percent of positives based on the total number of tests because "new positives" are from people who took the test days or weeks ago and may have had the virus even days before taking the test.
As for "false positives," Curry's staff said they are not aware of any.
As for essential businesses that have been given permission to operate, Curry emphasized the importance of still allowing those employees to work from home if they able to still perform their duties.
With questions over Sunday services still circulating, especially with Easter approaching, Curry said churches are considered essential, but prior executive orders still apply. He said a church cannot have more than 50 people in attendance at a time and they must be six feet apart.
However, that 50-person maximum is not required everywhere. When asked about adding safety precautions to grocery store, Curry said he will suggest to local grocery stores that they add "one way traffic in aisles," but he has not enforced a 50-person maximum.
If anyone violates the executive order, he said the sheriff's office will have to enforce it if necessary, but that's not what they want to resort to.
"I believe by and large the people of this city will do the right thing."
The mayor pointed to www.jaxready.com/virus for a full list of essential business in the executive order.
Curry also reminded families that the Duval County Public School District continues to provide breakfast, lunch and dinner meals to students in need. A list of locations where the meals are provided can be found at www.duvalschools.org.
Curry said he recently spoke with Superintendent Dr. Diana Green who reminded him of the importance of a student's final years in school.
“She reminded me of the disruption of the normal life of our students, our children, the young men and women in Jacksonville, and we specifically had a conversation about our seniors, obviously about the academic piece, but also about the life experiences that they are missing out on right now, spring sports, prom," said Curry. “I want to express to all of our school children whose lives have been turned upside down that your school officials care about you and it's not lost on me that you’ve lost these experiences.”
Curry also addressed recent reports that a cruise ship carrying 200 passengers, with people exhibiting coronavirus symptoms, could be headed to any port city in Florida including Jacksonville. He said he called Jaxport, but those officials had not been contacted by anyone about the possible cruise ship looking for a port on the First Coast.
Curry said he is trying to address those "potential credible reports," but he said no one is talking to the leadership of our city about that situation.
"While we demonstrate our compassion, we need to have absolute guarantee that federal, state and local resources will be coordinated to ensure the safety of our community,” Curry said.
Curry said it is not viable to allow a cruise ship with COVID-19 passengers on board to come into Jacksonville without a detailed plan in place.
With that said, Curry reminded people to take car of themselves at home.
"I know these are stressful and painful times for everyone," he said.
He reminded people to "#MakeThatCall" to a loved one or friend every day, which is something he does at 7 p.m. each night and encourages others to do the same.
Friday will mark the beginning of the Hart Bridge Expressway demolition, which is located adjacent to Lot J, where testing is taking place. Curry said experts understand how that may impact the area and the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office is helping to coordinate that traffic flow.
When asked about finding a silver lining in this current time, Curry said that's a difficult question to answer since so many people are suffering right now.
“This virus, it’s like a ghost, right? You don’t see it coming," Curry said. "People are walking around possibly asymptomatic and don’t know it. Families have had to experience deaths. People have had to die alone. That’s pretty tough stuff. I hesitate to say a positive silver lining because there are people right now who are personally struggling to have something to look forward to.”
Curry said he has noticed the community coming together though. He said most people are doing their part to flatten the curve because they care about each other. He said people are connecting with each other in different ways through this.
"Maybe we will come out of this kinder, gentler," he said.
Curry said he is in constant talks with our area hospitals. They go over different models for predicting outcomes of the virus in Jacksonville over the next several weeks and months. He said there are models that show bed capacity starting to fill up sometime in mid-April or early May, possible peaking in early May, but he said they used those models to begin social distancing and enforce executive orders weeks ago to prevent those outcomes.
He said hospitals have been making contingency plans in case they need more beds at some point.
"No one has shared a model with me that keeps me up at night," Curry said. "I'm not afraid and I don’t want people to be afraid."
He said some models say hospitals could be stressed, so it makes sense to act on that possibility.
As for offering financial aid for small business, Curry said the city is finalizing an agreement with Vystar Credit Union Friday. He expects City Council action Monday. As for city finances, Curry said "we are financially sound and strong as a city," but the budgets in the years ahead will be "incredibly difficult."
“It's up to us as a community to act responsibly and to take care of each other," Curry said. "There’s a million people in this city. We don’t have a million police officers. And we don’t want to deploy those resources and stretch them because people simply won’t socially distance. So we’ve got to take this seriously.”
Curry has issued four executive orders ahead of any mandate from the state, including telling business to allow workers to work from home and closing hotels, motels and short-term rentals to vacationers.
As of Wednesday evening, 490 cases of the coronavirus had been reported across the First Coast, according to numbers combined from both states' departments of health.