A county-wide directive issued June 29 by Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry requires all persons over the age of 6 to wear a mask indoors at public spaces when unable to practice social distancing.
The order, which includes the Beaches, also requires business owners to ensure the compliance of all employees and patrons. According to the order, business owners may exercise the ability to “exclude” any individual who is not wearing a mask or face covering because of a disability as they pose a direct threat to the health and safety of the employees. Must make reasonable accommodations for disable customers such as curbside service or delivery to prevent them from entering the establishment.
Public safety, law enforcement and other emergency personnel are exempt from the requirement. Personal protective equipment will be governed by the respective agencies.
As of June 30, there are 141,000 positive tests statewide with 3,418 recorded deaths. The numbers show a significant jump from 100,000 positive cases and 3,173 deaths on June 22. In Duval County, 5,588 positive cases and 64 deaths.
Last week, Beaches mayors held a press conference to detail the plans to suspend alcohol sales after midnight. Shortly after, the Bureau of Professional Regulations announced the closure of bars statewide to minimize the continued spread of the virus.
“It’s imperative that everyone follow the rules, both business and patrons,” said Jacksonville Beach Mayor Charlie Latham. “The government can’t do this on its own. We need everyone to do this together.”
According to the statistical indicators as reported June 30 by the Florida Department of Health, the number of confirmed positive cases in Jacksonville Beach totaled 297. To date, there are 86 positive cases in Neptune Beach and Atlantic Beach counted 154 positive cases.
“Tracking the data is important. We are seeing the same trends that the other Beaches are concerned about,” said Atlantic Beach Police Chief Vic Guialillo. “We have to take some action. We know that before the restrictions were lifted, the numbers were down so we have to go back to that same formula. Right now, we feel that it’s important to take some proactive steps so we can get in front of this thing as quickly as possible and bring those positive cases down.”
Neptune Beach Mayor Elaine Brown said May 31, there was four positive COVID cases reported in Neptune Beach. As of June 25, the number jumped to 43.
“That’s a huge red flag to all of us. There’s more testing going on, but we are also seeing a spread of the disease. As we see this spike, it is certainly something that all of us need to be aware of and more importantly, I’m asking, I’m saying, if you go into an establishment and the employees aren’t behind a shield or wearing a mask, I say leave,” said Brown.
“[Wearing a] mask is one of the best things you can do. Just stay in your home as much as possible but if you’re going out, please be aware of your surroundings that the stores that you shop in and restaurants are taking every precaution.”
Brown said Beaches officials are asking Curry to establish a testing site at the beach to make it more accessible for residents. She said officials are eyeing locations that can accommodate the traffic.
“We’re all responsible to our families, our friends and our neighbors. We’ve got to start taking this seriously. Memorial Day was kind of a turn for the Beaches. We saw crowds out here and it was like there was nothing to worry about. But I think when we see a 30-year-old succumb to this disease right here, there is no age group. What we are seeing is a spike that is spreading rapidly. Take care of yourself, take care of your family, let’s take care of each other. We are in this together.”
Joe Mitrick, president of Baptist Medical Center Beaches, said the hospital has treated 60 patients that tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic hit in March.
“To put that in perspective, since June 1 we’ve had 30 of those 60 cases so you can see that the numbers are definitely increasing. When you look at the demographic, back in March, it was an older patient that we were taking care of where the average age was above 60. Now we are treating patients that are in their late 30s and 40s at this point in time.”
Dr. Elizabeth Ransom, chief physician executive at Baptist Health, urged residents to wear masks, maintain social distancing and implement proper hygiene like washing hands, using hand sanitizer and keeping surfaces clean in an effort to eradicate the virus.
“Social distancing doesn’t have to mean social isolation. It means when you’re out, please try to stay at least six feet away from others. The virus can stay on surfaces for quite some time depending on what the surface is so wash your hands as frequently as possible. We’re all in this together so we want to partner with the communities to make sure we are here for you and providing you with this information.”
Ransom said hospital officials have created a dashboard system to track the number of patients coming in to the emergency room with COVID-like symptoms, the number of positive cases admitted to the hospital and those admitted to the ICU.
“What we’re seeing here at the Beaches, there definitely is an increase. We’re seeing more patients coming into the emergency department that have symptoms and we’re testing those patients. The number of those positive patients is going up but as you all heard, the average for those patients is much lower than it was at the beginning. That means that many of these patients who are coming in, even though they are positive they don’t have to be admitted. They can go home. The patients we are admitting to the hospital aren’t nearly as desperately ill as the ones that we saw at the beginning of this pandemic,” she said.
“When we look across our entire Baptist Health system, we have 31 patients the last time I looked who are in the hospital and only two of those are actually in the Intensive Care Unit. We are keeping track of those numbers very closely. That way we can make sure that we’re prepared and we have our processes in place should we see those numbers increase. It’s so important to emphasize that you wear your mask when you are out in public. That is critically important.”
June 15, 2026
