Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry said Monday he's working with city lawyers to expand on a previous executive order and wants to require all employers in the county to allow employees to work from home “if possible.”
The executive order goes into effect Tuesday, March 24, at 8 a.m., the city announced in a tweet.
“It seems many, most people are taking this seriously,” Curry said. “And so, in an effort to not disrupt business unnecessarily, we’re asking people to practice this.”
According to the city's official Twitter account, "If (employers) do not follow the order, they could face fines and citations from the fire marshal."
Curry also elaborated on the announcement of a regional field hospital coming to Jacksonville, which Florida Emergency Management Director Jared Moskowitz announced at a news conference in The Villages earlier Monday.
In a tweet after the press conference, Curry announced the hospital will be located inside the Prime Osborn Convention Center. The city will begin setting it up Tuesday.
Right now, Curry said, area hospitals are not yet at capacity and are in “good shape.” The field hospital would add more than 200 hospital beds, if needed.
Asked about whether he’d enforce a curfew in Jacksonville, as places including Camden County, Georgia, are, Curry said that likely isn’t feasible for the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
“The problem is, enforcing a curfew right now would put incredible strain on our law enforcement,” Curry said. “Right now we’re not setting a curfew. We’re asking you to do the right thing.”
If a drop in positive coronavirus cases isn’t seen, Curry said Florida could see a statewide curfew or even a national shelter-in-place order.
More than 300 COVID-19 tests have been conducted at the Prime Osborn testing site, according to Curry, and 565 tests had been done at the TIAA Bank Field location as of 1 p.m. Monday.
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Sky Lebron can be reached at slebron@wjct.org, 904-358-6319 or on Twitter at @SkylerLebron.
