In their last planned COVID-19 update, Clay County officials announced that beginning in June, the Board of County Commissioners meetings will be held in person again.
“All visitors will be screened, the capacity is limited and a cloth facemask or covering is highly recommended,” said County Manager Howard Wanamaker.
The first in-person commissioner meeting since March will be held on Tuesday, June 2, at the Clay County Administration Building in Green Cove Springs.
City and town facilities in the county have been reopening this week. Beginning Tuesday, all public parks and multipurpose fields reopened to the public. The same holds true for Orange Park, including the skate park.
In Keystone Heights, public restrooms, playground equipment, tennis courts, basketball courts and dog parks will remain closed.
Related: Coronavirus Q & A, including list of testing sites
The county is also allowing vacation rental owners to reopen and begin accepting bookings again.
Heather Huffman with the Clay County Department of Health said the current positivity rate in Clay County stands at 4.1%, which she said is below the state average.
COVID-19 testing at the Bear Run Clinic will continue through the month of June, according to county officials. Coronavirus symptoms are not required for someone to get tested.
Food distribution sites and the Emergency Operations Center will also run through the end June, according to Emergency Management Director John Ward.
Ward said the county’s emergency management team is planning different shelter operations due to COVID-19.
“Before, the average area for a general population shelter or one person coming into a shelter was 20 square feet,” Ward said. “We're now expanding that to 110 square feet per person at a general population shelter. And for a special needs, it was 60 square foot per person, we're now moving that to 160 square feet.”
That means less capacity at county shelters. Ward said the county is in the process of training the school district how to handle these new measures.
Sky Lebron can be reached at slebron@wjct.org, 904-358-6319 or on Twitter at @SkylerLebron.
