Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry said his administration will follow guidance from Gov. Ron DeSantis and the White House to gradually reopen Jacksonville’s economy and social life closed by the response to COVID-19.
Curry did not have a timeline of when local guidance will be released, but he told news reporters during an April 20 briefing that continued social distancing and protective recommendation will continue, even as his administration begins to reopen Duval County restaurants, retail stores and nonessential businesses.
“I have no doubt that when we start to move, I’m going to recommend that if you can work from home you ought to be working from home for a period of time,” Curry said.
He expects recommendations from the city also will include wearing masks in the workplace and grocery stores, as well as strategies for bars, restaurants and gathering places to maintain social distancing among patrons.
“I want to reiterate to people, the virus is here. We flattened it here, but we can’t stay locked in our homes indefinitely,” Curry said. “It’s just not an option. There’s a whole lot of fallout that’s already happened from that, and it’s only going to get worse the longer this goes.”
As of April 20, VyStar Credit Union approved 326 emergency COVID-19 small business relief loans for $11.5 million in a partnership program with the city, Curry said.
The unemployment rate in the Jacksonville metropolitan area rose from 3% in February to 4.3% in March, with the number of unemployed people in the labor force growing by about 10,000, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity reported April 17.
In Duval County, the jobless rate rose by 1.4 percentage points to 4.5%. City and state officials expect those numbers to rise.
Curry plans to announce members of an advisory council of business, government and health care officials this week to provide city officials guidance to create a strategy to reopen Duval County.
Curry clarified that the advisory council he announced April 16 will be a small, informal group that will work with the city’s independent agencies to identify neighborhood infrastructure projects in the city’s five-year Capital Improvement Plan with the goal to create jobs.
The group also will advise the Curry administration on how to coordinate with Jacksonville’s Fortune 500 companies and small businesses to determine how to best reopen the economy.
Curry said a more formal task force could emerge from the advisory group to help lead that private sector coordination.
In addition, he wants his advisory council to determine how to maintain the level of testing capacity for the coronavirus recommended by health care experts and to obtain rapid results.
During the news conference, Curry cited a recent Harvard University study that states for every 100,000 people, 152 need to be tested daily for a metropolitan area to identify and isolate those infected with the coronavirus, understand how widespread it is and safely reopen.
The city reports more than 10,000 people have been tested in Duval County since drive-thru sites opened March 20 at TIAA Bank Field Lot J and the Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center.
Jacksonville’s testing capacity exceeds 1,500 people per day combined with the testing ability at area hospitals and the Florida Department of Health, the mayor said.
U.S. Census Bureau estimates show Jacksonville with a population of 903,889 as of July 1, 2018.
City officials plan to add a third, walk-up site to test for the coronavirus in Henry L. Brown Kooker Park at 1400 E. 20th St. in North Jacksonville to increase local testing capacity by 200 people per day.
Details on that site are expected this week. Curry said the goal is to provide testing access to “people from different parts of town and different backgrounds.”
Curry said Jacksonville-area hospitals report that as of April 20, facilities are at 51% capacity, which he said reinforces the April 16 decision by his administration and mayors from the Beaches communities for a limited reopening of Duval County beaches.
“The data continues to show the number of hospitalizations for COVID-19 patients in Duval County have been consistently well below capacity,” Curry said. “This appears to show the flattening we’re looking for.”
Curry addressed weekend national media coverage critical of the decision to reopen local beaches. Media outlets showed images of crowded shores in Jacksonville Beach.
Law enforcement was on-site to break up dense pockets of people to ensure social distancing and to stop those using blankets, towels, chairs and grills, which are prohibited on the beaches, he said.
Curry said these instances were isolated, and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and Beaches police departments reported the majority of weekend beachgoers practiced social distancing guidelines.
The beaches are open from 6-11 a.m. and 5-9 p.m. daily under the latest restrictions.
“The limited beaches reopening can be a first step in a pathway back to normal, but we must be mindful of the risks and respect the limitations, not only for our safety but for the safety of our neighbors as well,” Curry said.