Drew Dixon
Jacksonville’s coronavirus case count ticked up Wednesday morning as the city’s mayor is increasing measures to restrict the movement of residents in hopes of stemming the spread of the illness.
The number of confirmed COVID-19 in Duval County increased to 218, according to the Florida Department of Health coronavirus “dashboard” on the agency’s website. That figure is up by 11 over Tuesday night’s tally of 207 infections.
Men have accounted for 98 of the Duval County cases and women account for 111. Duval County residents account for 211 of the cases and another seven are nonresidents. All Jacksonville cases recorded are Florida residents, according to DOH.
There have been four deaths attributed to the virus in Jacksonville, a figure that has held steady for several days. Another 28 people have been hospitalized.
A total of 3,691 tests have been administered in the county, with 3,300 of those coming back negative.
The updated numbers come as Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry announced Wednesday that he’s issuing an executive “Safer at Home” order directing most workers and residents to stay close to their homes. The order goes into effect Friday, a city news release said.
“While we are confident that citizens will be much safer at home in the coming weeks, I want to make it clear that this executive order does not restrict people’s ability to go outside to take a walk or ride a bike,” Curry said in a prepared statement. “This only prevents residents from traveling to businesses deemed nonessential.”
The order also allows only “essential retail or commercial businesses” to continue operations in the city. While Curry issued the order for only “essential businesses” to remain open, the city’s news release issued a list of dozens of businesses that fit that description on the city’s website.
“I know that this is a major decision that will have major impacts on the lives of citizens throughout Jacksonville, but as mayor, my top priority has been and always will be the collective health and safety of this city,” Curry said.
The new executive order comes a week after Curry issued one where he directed local business managers allow nonessential personnel work out of their homes. After initial complaints from local workers who said they weren’t allowed to stay at home, Curry was forced to ask workers and employers to be “reasonable” and work out an agreement.
Statewide, there are 6,955 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 87 deaths caused by the illness. A total of 890 people have been hospitalized.
Nationally, 190,089 people have tested positive for COVID-19. In the United States, 4,102 of those victims have died.
