‘Don’t move the goalposts’: Lenny Curry chides Jacksonville media for COVID concerns about GOP Convention

Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry listens to Black Lives Matter protesters. Photo via AG Gancarski

Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry on Tuesday addressed COVID-19 concerns, a more existential consideration in light of the Republican National Convention coming to town in August.

Curry has maintained for weeks that the city has “flattened the curve,” and has expressed confidence that a “full arena” convention is possible.

However, all appearances are that in Florida and elsewhere, COVID-19 is spreading, with over 80,000 cumulative cases in the state and close to 3,000 confirmed deaths as of numbers released Tuesday by the Department of Health.

The 2,112 cases in Duval include 80 new cases Tuesday, a single-day record. Curry reported the number represented a total positive percentage of 2.8%, down from the peak on April 6.

Journalists here and elsewhere have expressed concerns, but Curry continued to maintain that the city had “flattened the curve” and cautioned media that was the goal, rather than full-scale eradication of the disease.

“Don’t move the goalposts,” the Mayor said, adding that it would be “ridiculous” for “some in the media” to “suggest quarantine” because of positive cases in the city.

“The story the data is telling us is not that the virus is on the rise,” Curry said.

“We have flattened the curve in Jacksonville,” he added, with “hospital capacities returned to pre-COVID levels” and “significant decreases” in “COVID-19 alert cases” for Fire and Rescue.

“As we rapidly increased testing,” Curry said the city “knew” that positive tests would result.

“My team and I are watching the percentages of positives … steadily decreasing for months now,” Curry said. “Hospital cases are down, transports are down.

VP Mike Pence said Charlotte could not provide “assurances” regarding a full occupancy convention. His comments suggested that Jacksonville had been willing to offer such assurances, a potentially risky position in light of the rising number of cases.

Pence’s assertion on Fox and Friends contravened Gov. Ron DeSantis who said the “shape of the pandemic” will drive logistics ultimately. But those assurances, Curry noted, are conditional.

“We have told the RNC that given the trends that we have … that we can have a full scale convention,” Curry said, noting that safety protocols, including temperature checks and testing, would be part of the planning process.

Saying again that “indefinitely quarantining is not an option,” the Mayor noted that two months out, it’s “time to plan as if open for business.”

“At this point in time, we are planning a convention at the arena. We are not going to put people at risk,” Curry said, adding that “nothing in life is certain. If things change, we’ll adapt accordingly at the time.”

CDC guidelines call for social distancing and the Mayor noted those will “exist until we have a vaccine.”

“We got word of this convention days ago,” Curry said, adding that “the planning has started to [have the convention] in a responsible way.”