JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — As much of the country slowed down in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jacksonville remained among the top three cities with the most travel.
A New York Times report compiled cell phone location data showing where travel declined and where it didn’t. The article says before safer at home orders were issued by the state and city, people were traveling often. A New York Times graph shows where people were still traveling the most during March.
The data does not show where a person traveled specifically, but it says Duval County was number three in the nation. The average trip was around three miles, according to the study.
Experts say places in which travel dropped to a mile a day did more to flatten the curve. The report used a mobility index to measure the median distance traveled by all devices in an area.
Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry addressed the article during a news conference Friday, April 3.
“It doesn’t shock me, it’s, you know, there’s a reason the governor has taken the action he’s taken on flights and vehicles coming into the state. We’re at the tip of the spear if you will, you come into the state of Florida at certain points, you’re here. There’s a reason we took action with our hotels,” Curry said.
“Look, I love New Yorkers, I love New York and I love visiting New York but we all have a responsibility to stop the spread, and where people have been quarantined outside of our city and county, we would ask they follow the orders of their city and not come to ours, it’s about taking care of each other,” Curry added.
First Coast News followed up with the Mayor on Wednesday. He noted Jacksonville is the largest city by area in the US, so while this data makes sense, it could be misleading.
In a statement to First Coast News, the mayor wrote: “What we are focused on at this time, that 5 percent of nearly 8,000 people that were tested for COVID-19 in Jacksonville have tested positive. This percentage is much lower than other cities and we believe it demonstrates that people in our community are following directions.”
Those directions like the safer at home orders issued by the city and state last week.
The safer at home order in Jacksonville will be in effect until further notice.