Janelle Irwin Taylor
St. Petersburg may be poised to reinstate some coronavirus-related restrictions as cases locally and statewide continue to rise to pre-reopening levels.
Mayor Rick Kriseman announced Tuesday he was delaying his weekly COVID-19 update to continue conversations with county leaders about the next local steps.
“It is clear the State of Florida is business as usual. I will be taking steps to protect our city. In the meantime, mask up,” Kriseman wrote Tuesday.
He did not elaborate on potential plans.
Kriseman’s teaser comes as Pinellas County cases continue a steady incline.
Pinellas County added 136 new cases Monday, down from 154 Sunday and 165 Saturday, but up from just seven reported three weeks ago.
The county’s total is now 2,523 including 2,471 residents.
State officials have attributed the rise in positive cases to increased testing capacity. At the beginning of the pandemic, only symptomatic residents with reason to believe they had been exposed to the virus were able to obtain tests. Now most counties, including Pinellas, offer testing to anyone regardless of contact or symptoms.
Still, the positive test rate, a key data point officials are looking at to determine community spread, is on the rise.
Pinellas’ positive test rate Monday was 6.6%, up from just 1.2% two weeks ago.
Those affected are also trending younger, suggesting community spread is growing as more young people resume life as usual in local bars and restaurants.
In Pinellas, the median age of positive patients is 57, but those between the ages of 25 and 34 account for 517 cases. The next highest age range is 35-44 with 339 case.
Three St. Pete bars temporarily closed last week after employees tested positive.
