Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry said the Jacksonville 2020 Host Committee has raised “tens of millions” of dollars for the Aug. 24-27 Republican National Convention.
Curry, co-chair of the nonprofit host committee, did not provide fundraising totals during a news conference July 14, but he said “fundraising is strong.”
The RNC moved its convention from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Jacksonville after President Donald Trump publicly criticized Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, for requiring a scaled-back event to allow for social distancing amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The RNC is planned for VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena but could be moving outdoors.
The New York Times White House correspondent Maggie Haberman, citing Republican Party sources, reports that the GOP decided July 13 to move events from the arena to an outdoor venue.
“The plan to move the activities outdoors was made after a meeting that Mr. Trump held with political advisers on Monday evening,” Haberman reported.
Curry Chief of Staff Jordan Elsbury told the Daily Record on July 10 that RNC organizers were considering a move outdoors and all city-owned facilities in the Downtown Sports and Entertainment District have been under consideration.
Facilities near the arena include 121 Financial Ballpark, TIAA Bank Field and Daily’s Place Amphitheater.
The minor league baseball field’s capacity is 11,000, less than the 15,000-seat capacity at the indoor arena. Daily’s Place Amphitheater seats 5,550. TIAA Bank Field, the Jacksonville Jaguars home field, seats 67,164.
Curry said Trump’s comments last week to journalist Greta Van Susteren that he’s “flexible” about the convention align with the organizer’s health and safety policies.
“It’s consistent with what we’ve been saying,” Curry said. “We have many weeks until the convention. We are monitoring the situation and will plan accordingly based on hospitalizations, the community spread, etcetera.”
Hospital capacity
Curry said 548 patients are hospitalized with COVID-19 in Duval County and 113 are in intensive care unit beds.
The Florida Department of Health’s hospital ICU bed census shows 21.59% bed availability in Duval County. The report states 95 of the 440 adult ICU beds were empty as of 2:27 p.m. July 14.
That number of patients hospitalized and in local ICUs with COVID-19 has been rising since July 1, when 42 Duval County coronavirus patients needed intensive care.
On July 7, there were 375 patients hospitalized locally with COVID-19.
Curry said area hospital leadership told him on a call July 14 that contingency plans are in place to be prepared for an influx of COVID-19 patients.
“Local hospital CEOs have assured me that if we experience a rise in COVID-positive patients that threatens capacity, they are ready to take action and increase their bed space and availability for patients,” Curry said.
Curry on lockdowns
Curry says he has no plans to scale back Duval County’s reopening of the economy.
In Texas and California, governors have taken steps toward or threatened to restart lockdowns if the COVID-19 trends continue.
Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott, a Republican, told CBS News affiliate KLBK-TV on July 10 that the only way to keep the state’s businesses open is if everyone adopts “the practice of wearing face masks.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, announced the closure of all bars and indoor operations at restaurants, movie theaters and museums over the weekend.
Curry said public schools need to reopen for the fall semester and organized youth sports in Duval County should continue, noting the sacrifice of school-aged youth since the pandemic began, despite calls from some teachers and parents to continue virtual learning.
Curry said people “need to learn to live with” the virus.
“If people start talking about lockdowns, understand what this looks like. You start pulling all elective surgeries. You start blocking access to people to get the health care they need so (hospitals) can deal with COVID,” Curry said.
“Then you start shutting down businesses. There are so many negative impacts of these shutdowns — health-related, economic, mental health, etcetera. We have to figure this out, and we know the simple things we can do,” Curry said.