Coronavirus in Jacksonville: What you need to know for Thursday, August 13

Coronavirus: Clay County adds a record 8 new deaths since Wednesday, 148 across Florida

Clay County recorded a record eight new deaths due to the novel coronavirus, according to the Florida Department of Health's Thursday report.

There were 14 new deaths across North Florida, with three in St. Johns, one in Putnam and two in Duval, in addition to the eight in Clay. There have now been 359 deaths believed to have been caused by complications due to COVID-19, according to the health department. | Read more

Jacksonville 'safety-net' hospitals seeking 'fair share' of federal COVID-19 relief funds

At least 40 percent of Florida's coronavirus patients have been treated at safety-net hospitals, including UF Health Jacksonville and Ascension St. Vincent's Riverside.

But those hospitals, which provide care regardless of ability to pay, and Florida hospitals overall have not received their "fair share" of federal COVID-19 relief funding, according to Justin Senior, CEO of the Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida, which represents 14 health care systems and 35 facilities. | Read more

AMC to offer 15-cent tickets on first day of reopening

After several false starts due to a summer rise in coronavirus cases throughout much of the U.S., widespread moviegoing is currently set to resume in late August. Regal Cinemas, the second-largest chain, is to reopen some U.S. locations on Aug. 21. | Read more

The deadly cost of COVID-19: 'Home is where your mom is'

Janie Lou Brown passed away in Jacksonville on April 23 of the COVID-19 virus. Her daughter, Jacksonville resident Joye Brown, said her mother lived in South Carolina her entire life and took ill while visiting her and her brother Steve McDavid. | Read more

6 national restaurant chains in deepest trouble amid COVID-19 include Outback Steakhouse, IHOP and Denny's

Casual dining chains were already facing challenges before COVID-19, But now several of the largest restaurant companies in the U.S. are struggling with capacity restrictions on indoor dining and attempting to lure customers with takeout in a bid to avoid financial disaster.  Here are the six largest publicly traded restaurant chains that are most likely to default. | Read more

Some Duval teachers are prioritizing drafting wills over lesson plans. One even penned her own obit.

When Whitney Reddick, 33, posted her own obituary on Facebook, she didn’t intend for it to go viral. 

The Jacksonville special education teacher made national headlines over her summer vacation when her plea to Duval County Public Schools and state officials to keep public education virtual during the coronavirus pandemic was shared over and over. 

“It is crazy,” Reddick said. “I’m seeing my name in publications I’ve never even heard of. Hands down, this is not my first vocal stance, or the first activism that I’ve taken on the issue. So whenever it did take off, I was obviously humbled. I had no expectation of that whatsoever.” | Read more

Jacksonville mayor cautions against coronavirus complacency

Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry said Wednesday that he is participating in an advertising campaign to encourage residents to wear masks.

Curry cautioned residents to not become complacent or succumb to coronavirus pandemic "fatigue" and said continuing to wear a mask in public places and avoiding mass gatherings are crucial to fight the local COVID-19 outbreak in Jacksonville. | Read more

Florida State football wide receiver D.J. Matthews announces positive test for COVID-19

Florida State wide receiver D.J. Matthews announced that he tested positive for the coronavirus via Twitter Wednesday.

"Damn I tested positive for COVID. Y'all be safe an where y'all mask," Matthews said in the tweet, which he later deleted. | Read more 

Jacksonville-based Stein Mart files for bankruptcy; store closures coming

Jacksonville-based retailer Stein Mart has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to remain in business “in the near term” but said Wednesday it will be closing a number of stores.

“The company expects to close a significant portion, if not all, of its brick-and-mortar stores,” the company said, adding that it “has launched a store closing and liquidation process.”

The closings will allow the company to continue to operate its business through the near term, officials said. | Read more

Florida is chosen to be part of COVID-19 vaccine pilot with CDC

Florida, which has endured a surge of coronavirus infections this summer, will participate in a COVID-19 vaccine pilot program with the federal government.

State Surgeon General Scott Rivkees said Tuesday, during a conference call with hospital officials, that Florida has been invited to be part of a federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vaccine pilot group. Rivkees said Florida was one of four states chosen to participate, along with the city of Philadelphia. | Read more

Florida sheriff forbids employees, visitors to wear masks: If they do, 'they will be asked to leave'

As the city of Ocala wrestles with an ordinance requiring face coverings for people inside businesses, Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods told his employees they will not wear masks at work, and visitors to his office can’t wear masks either.

Woods, in an email dated Aug. 11, said "my order will stand as is when you are on-duty/working as my employee and representing my Office – masks will not be worn."

Ocala City Council passed an emergency ordinance last week requiring people to wear masks inside businesses. Mayor Kent Guinn vetoed it Monday and the council will meet Wednesday to consider overriding the veto. | Read more

Masters Tournament to be played with no spectators

The Augusta National patrons -- knowledgeable, vocal and emotional in their embrace of great shots and great champions at the Masters -- won't be a part of the 2020 tournament. 

Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley announced on Wednesday that the tournament, already delayed to Nov. 12-15 because of the coronavirus pandemic, will take place without the patrons or guests on the grounds for the first time since the tournament began in 1934. | Read more

Florida high school sports face new guidelines in medical committee report

Florida's sports medicine advisory committee laid out a new set of recommendations and suggested another delayed start for resuming high school sports, two days before a Friday meeting expected to chart the course for the coming season.

The Florida High School Athletic Association's medical committee, known as SMAC, recommended a start no earlier than Sept. 28 while calling for a new set of benchmarks to begin competition for the 2020-21 school year. | Read more

Americans continue to seek jobless benefits as Congress wrangles and the economy sputters

The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits continued to rise last week, as the economy sputters and Congress struggles to agree on how to extend aid to workers who have lost their jobs.

About 963,000 filed initial jobless claims, a rough measure of layoffs, the Labor Department said Thursday.

It's the first time weekly claims have dipped below 1 million in months. But the latest stream of applications still means nearly 56 million Americans have sought unemployment aid in little more than five months. | Read more

EARLIER

Symptomatic students prioritized for COVID-19 testing during back-to-school season

Students with coronavirus symptoms will be given prioritized testing in Duval County and across the state of Florida, per a recommendation from the Florida Department of Health. 

The guidance is part of a request from Surgeon General Scott Rivkees to focus on testing in schools, a Volusia County Department of Health administrator confirmed Tuesday.  |  Read more

More people moving to downtown Jacksonville but pandemic is masking urban vibe

Boomtown or ghost town?

Downtown Jacksonville has had elements of both over the past year and a half, creating a sense of vertigo about what direction it's headed. Construction of new apartment buildings keeps attracting more residents, even as the COVID-19 pandemic drags on and muffles the urban vibe that draws people to the core.

"it's a really challenging times for everyone, but particularly for us in downtown," said Downtown Vision CEO Jake Gordon.  |  Read more

Cinemark Tinseltown, Regal movie theaters reopening in Jacksonville

Five months after the COVID-19 pandemic forced movie theaters to close temporarily, Cinemark Tinseltown and XD movie theater plans to reopen Friday in Jacksonville.

The theater at 4535 Southside Blvd. is reopening as part of the company's "test-and-learn process," Cinemark Holdings Inc. announced in a news release.  |  Read more

Birdies, popular Five Points bar, reopens under new ownership

Birdies has taken wing again in Five Points.

The reopening comes nearly five months since Birdies closed amid the statewide bar and restaurant shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  |  Read more

'Like saying I don't love her': Parents torn as some schools face greater reopening risks

A USA TODAY analysis of COVID-19 infection rates at the ZIP code level found that neighborhoods hit hardest by the coronavirus and others largely spared often exist side by side.

Yet many district officials must craft a single plan for reopening schools that simultaneously serves either extreme.  |  Read more

Northeast Florida high school bands face new routine amid COVID-19

As schools around the Sunshine State tentatively eye plans for returning high school football to the gridiron, for one very important part of the routine under the Friday night lights, the shape of the coming year is also far from certain.

High school bands across Florida approach fall facing many questions about how they can perform during the 2020-21 school year as the coronavirus pandemic continues on.  |  Read more

Putin says Russia has registered coronavirus vaccine and daughter given it

Russian President Vladimir Putin says that a coronavirus vaccine developed in the country has been registered for use and one of his daughters has already been inoculated.

Speaking at a government meeting Tuesday, Putin said that the vaccine has proven efficient during tests, offering a lasting immunity from the coronavirus. | Read more

Worldwide coronavirus cases top 20 million, doubling in six weeks

It took six months for the world to reach 10 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus. It took just over six weeks for that number to double.

The worldwide count of known COVID-19 infections climbed past 20 million on Monday, with more than half of them from just three countries: the U.S., India and Brazil, according to the tally kept by Johns Hopkins University.  | Read more

CEO: Clorox is making 1 million packages of disinfecting wipes per day

Clorox said it's churning out more disinfectant wipes than ever before to keep up with increasing demand during the pandemic. 

The company's president, Linda Rendle, said Monday that it is "making wipes in record numbers and shipping to stores in record numbers" as consumers continue to scour grocery store aisles for Clorox and Lysol products, which health agencies say may help curb the spread of COVID-19.   |  Read more

'We need to tell everyone': Teens, young adults who vape more at risk for COVID-19, study says

A new study has found that vaping is linked to an elevated risk of COVID-19 among teenagers and young adults, providing more evidence of the harmful effects of electronic cigarettes.

According to the study, led by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and published Tuesday in the peer-reviewed Journal of Adolescent Health, teens and young adults who vape are five times more likely to become infected with the coronavirus compared with those who did not use e-cigarettes.  |  Read more

Petition urges FHSAA to 'let them play'

College football players took to Twitter this week to lobby the NCAA to save their season. Now, high school players in Florida are taking the same approach.

Late Monday an online petition was created that implores the Florida High School Athletic Association to allow sports to be played as planned this fall.   |  Read more

DeSantis, FSU back football in fall

As the 2020 college football season teeters on the brink of cancellation to the coronavirus, Florida State University strongly advocates playing this fall.

The reason?

The administration, coaches and players all feel the field is a safer environment than the world without a football season.  |  Read more