JACKSONVILLE – Normally, Father’s Day weekend and the first day of summer means packed streets.
But restaurants such as Lynch’s is still closed after closing for the second time in a week. With more restaurants closing in the wake of increased COVID-19 cases, it seems like more people are choosing to stay home.
“I think this is a little slow for Saturday night, sure,” Stephen Boss said.
Those who spoke with News4Jax who were out and about said they’re not too worried.
“People are pretty spread out,” Sarah Jackson said. “I’m not terribly concerned.”
“I’m not really worried about the numbers, honestly,” Charles Hough said.
Stacie Kegebein is used to seeing the Saturday night beach bar scene a lot busier.
“It’s a ghost town,” Kegebein said.
Kegebein was at Lynch’s Irish Pub on June 6, the night more than a dozen other people said they tested positive.
She’s still waiting on her test results after getting tested this week.
“My girlfriend had it Monday and she hasn’t gotten her results yet,” she said. “She was supposed to have a surgery on Friday.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis in his Saturday press conference talked about the jump in cases we’re seeing in younger age groups, more specifically, ages 20 to 30, including in Duval County.
More testing is contributing to the numbers going up across the area.
But DeSantis clarified that we’re also seeing the rise in cases from young people spreading it out in the community.
“We’re seeing a major shift in this direction with this large 20 to 30-year-old population, mostly asymptomatic,” he said. “But we’re also seeing that not only are they testing positive because they’re testing more, they’re also testing positive at a higher rate increasingly over the last week, and that’s something that you want to look at.”
DeSantis defended his decision to reopen the economy, saying that many of the new cases are showing up among young people who are more likely asymptomatic and will not require extensive health-care services if they do get sick.
DeSantis also said the state would begin cracking down on restaurants and bars that don’t follow guidelines limiting the amount of people inside.