Mayor Grover Robinson

High school students interested in becoming involved in their community, learning about local government and honing their leaderships skills are invited to join the Pensacola Youth Council, a new program being launched by the city of Pensacola.

LEDE: Health officials say more than 30,000 Floridians have died of COVID-19, but hospitalizations and cases have continued to drop -- including in Northwest Florida, according to Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson. 

During his weekly virtual news conference Monday morning, Robinson lauded declines in overall cases and hospitalizations in the past few days. Over that time, cases have dipped to below the seven percent threshold.

In his weekly virtual news conference, Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson provided an update on the local coronavirus numbers, along with how and where to secure a vaccination.

The mayor kicked things off with repeating last week’s announcement that the current restrictions and guidelines due to COVID-19 have been extended to March 11. The original expiration date had been February 28.

Coronavirus rates in Pensacola appear to be easing a bit, according to Mayor Grover Robinson, but still hovering in that ten to 18% range.

“It would be better it we could keep [the COVID rate] down, but we would seem to be daily in that occurrence,” said Robinson during his weekly virtual news conference. He added that some of the new case numbers have seen some leveling or decline – the latter in hospitalizations.

After more than two years of discussion, could the city of Pensacola be ready to put its money where its mouth is in regard to the homeless?

Mayor Grover Robinson is asking the City Council to approve spending $200,00 to pay for "homeless initiatives" such as a day-use center, which is part of a similar initiative by the city of Tallahassee and Leon County.

As the number of coronavirus cases continue to climb, Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson is out with a repeat of restrictions within the city limits.

Speaking at his weekly virtual news conference, the mayor said it’s being made necessary by a “fairly significant” jump in positivity and hospitalizations over the past few days.

Residents in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities will be the first to get a coronavirus vaccine when Florida begins receiving it.

“We anticipate an FDA approval for the Pfizer vaccine; and we believe next week we’ll see approval for the Moderna vaccine,” said Gov. Ron DeSantis in a video released last week.

As the weather turns cooler, the COVID-19 pandemic is spiking in Northwest Florida – as elsewhere – with experts saying it will get worse before it gets better. Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson and Gov. Ron DeSantis had local and state updates.

Almost 17,000 COVID-19 cases are reported in Escambia County, according to the Florida Department of Health, with an 8.86% positivity rate as of Monday, according to the mayor.

The City of Pensacola is bringing back some of the COVID-19 precautions from earlier this year to combat the new wave of the virus.

Speaking at his weekly news conference, the mayor said you need not look any further than City Hall to see the new rise in coronavirus numbers.

“We’ve got probably the highest [rate] in some time at the city, not because they actually have COVID, but because they’ve had exposure,” the mayor said. “We also have several people who are awaiting tests, and we find ourselves in an unusual position, but one that’s kind of common these days.”

Responding a jump in hospitalizations due to the coronavirus, Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson issued State of Emergency Declaration 20-07 on Tuesday.

Hospitalizations in the city’s three hospitals -- Ascension-Sacred Heart; Baptist, and West Florida -- increasing to 78 as of Tuesday, three more than the threshold set by Robinson.

Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson said a couple of weeks ago he would be glad when the 2020 election was over. Now that he’s got his wish, he used part of his weekly news conference to share his thoughts on the vote.

The mayor began his remarks referring to the District-1 city council race between incumbent P.C. Wu and Jennifer Brahier, which is in a recount.

Last week’s order from Tallahassee that all businesses reopen to full capacity in the COVID pandemic, and seeking Uncle Sam’s help highlighted Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson’s weekly virtual news conference.

One issue to be resolved is just how much federal assistance is coming to Northwest Florida to help clean up after the hurricane. Work was underway over the weekend to secure individual assistance money from FEMA.

Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson covered a number of subjects during Monday’s virtual news conference – including the pandemic, a grant award, and some good news on city layoffs.

First up, the numbers on COVID-19 as of Monday morning, according to the Florida Department of Health. There were 7,000 positive cases in Escambia County, just over 6,200 of whom are residents.

One day after the Pensacola City Council voted to remove the Confederate monument from Lee Square and relocate it, Mayor Grover Robinson discussed the statue’s future and its place in the city during his Wednesday chat on Facebook.

“As we go forward we have a proud, rich history; as many people have said, we’re not looking to erase any history, but we may be able to relocate and retell it in a different way,” said the mayor. “Not that we’re going to quit telling anybody’s history, but we’re going to tell everybody’s history.”

Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson used a very short, weekly virtual news conference to discuss a potpourri of subjects.

In his roughly eight minutes of prepared script, the mayor updated the numbers on COVID-19 in the city and Escambia County – 2,809 positive cases, according to the state Health Department.

“The number of COVID-19 hospitalizations is at 116 as of July 5,” said Robinson. “For reference, there were 46 COVID-19 hospitalizations exactly one week ago.”