Jacksonville’s response to COVID-19 will be used as an example nationwide

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville’s response to COVID-19 will now be used as an example nationwide. On Thursday, Mayor Lenny Curry announced he will testify before a congressional subcommittee about reopening Jacksonville and keeping numbers low.

Curry said Jacksonville has a story to tell. He said if given the opportunity, he will share with this committee how the city is going to move forward.

“I’m just going to tell our story,” said Curry, who has been very vocal about reopening carefully and responsibly.

“This shouldn’t be a divisive issue. You can be pro-economy, pro-jobs, pro-people getting back to work and also operate in a responsible manner,” he said.

In Duval County, there were more than 1,500 cases of COVID-19 as of Thursday afternoon, according to the Florida Department of Health. Action News Jax pulled the numbers from the last month to see if we are really slowing the curve. About 3 1/2 weeks ago, when some businesses started to reopen, there were 92 additional cases. In the weeks following, there were another 113 and 139 cases. So far this week, 40 cases have been reported. It’s important to note that testing has become more widely available in recent weeks. It’s also important to note that results can take days to come back. While those cases have been going up, the percentage of people testing positive is dropping.

“The numbers aren’t going down. I think that’s the key point that we all need to take away the numbers aren’t going down,” said Michelle Aquino, a doctor at Baptist Health.

Aquino said while the numbers are small, people shouldn’t let their guard down.

“The spread hasn’t been as severe as other places, but there is still spread. The spread is still going on. The disease is still in our community, and we need to be careful,” she said.

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