While speaking to a Congressional panel, Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry on Friday praised the White House and Gov. Ron DeSantis for building the “foundation” for Jacksonville’s response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Curry was part of a panel of mayors from seven cities across the country, delivering a five-minute prepared speech and answering questions from members of the U.S. House of Representatives Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis.
He briefly discussed the city’s efforts to return to work and provide relief to hard-hit residents while also weighing in on politicized issues.
Curry said DeSantis and President Donald Trump helped Jacksonville take actions to “flatten the curve and protect our health systems.” He said those actions prevented “dire situations like where we saw elsewhere.”
It remains unclear what role other factors, like Jacksonville’s lower population density or lack of a major international airport, played in the city faring better that New York City and other metropolitan areas.
Curry discussed how Jacksonville is using the $160 million it received through the federal CARES Act relief package, like providing $1,000 to 40,000 local households and expanding the city’s testing capabilities.
Curry also echoed GOP talking points on national political issues, asking lawmakers to not allow cities or states to use relief money as “an excuse to repair poor choices” and called on China to explain more about the origins of the pandemic.
Duval County and St. Johns County each listed a new COVID-19 death in Friday’s report from the Florida Department of Health.
The health department added the death of an 80-year-old man in Duval County and a 91-year-old woman in St. Johns County. These deaths are the 47th recorded thus far from COVID-19 in Duval County, and the sixth for St. Johns County.
The Northeast Florida death toll now stands at 90.
Cases in Duval County increased by 38 from Thursday’s report, now numbering 1,561 in all … Read more.
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