Mayor Grover Robinson

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.”

Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson used much of his weekly virtual news conference Monday, to elaborate on his decision to make face coverings mandatory in businesses inside the city proper.

On Friday, the mayor issued state of emergency 20-03, which requires both staff and customers to wear a mask.

Update: 

8 p.m. The City of Milton is also mandating face coverings beginning 12:01 a.m. June 28. Read more here.

5:23 p.m. The City of Gulf Breeze announced that face coverings will be required inside businesses within the City of Gulf Breeze limits. Read the post here.  

Gov. Ron DeSantis is again rejecting the notion of a statewide mandatory use of face masks to protect against the coronavirus – despite a massive increase in such cases.

For the fifth time in six days, Florida has topped the 3,000 mark in new COVID-19 cases.  As of Wednesday, Escambia County recorded a massive jump overnight, increasing 88 positive cases for a total of 1,312. Santa Rosa increased 16 cases, bringing its total to 371.

Florida is reporting nearly 3,500 new cases of the coronavirus, a dip from the record-breaking numbers of recent days. However, there are no changes on the horizon when it comes to Pensacola’s reopening schedule.

More citizen input for the police department and monitoring coronavirus – two of the main items on Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson’s plate during his weekly news conference on Monday.

The mayor pointed to recent upticks in the number of cases and testing percentages. But he adds they’re still under the April and May figures.

COVID-19’s impact on municipalities was the topic of a virtual congressional briefing on the need for direct federal assistance to America’s cities, towns and villages. And Pensacola had a voice in the proceeding.

Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson and the other panelists illustrated the urgent need for Uncle Sam’s help in stabilizing local government operations, keeping workers on the job, facilitating the reopening of America and in turn, jump-starting the national economic recovery.

Pensacola residents protesting the death of George Floyd spent the weekend making their voices heard at the iconic 17th Street Trestle were joined by two special visitors on Saturday.

Civil rights icon Rev. H.K. Matthews says that after years of African-Americans dying at the hands of law enforcement, Floyd’s death — when a Minneapolis cop crushed his windpipe with his knee — appears to be the long-awaited tipping point. Matthews, 92, compares it to the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery march for voting rights, which he attended.

Work continues on both the state and local levels to reopen Florida, in a way that keeps another surge of the coronavirus from appearing.

First up Wednesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis in Miami saying that the number of patients seriously ill with COVID-19 has dropped substantially, even in the hotbed that is South Florida.

“And there are over 6,300 ventilators throughout the state of Florida that are just not being used; and so, to be under 300 patients now with that, that’s a positive trend for us,” the governor said.

Mayor Grover Robinson is out with his draft "Recover Pensacola" plan — a framework for reopening the city safely and helping the local economy recover from COVID-19.

At issue for what reopens, where and when, is the number of hospitalizations in the area and the impact the coronavirus is having on first responders. Robinson says they’re watching that and basing decisions on the city’s color indicator – green, yellow, and red.

In his weekly virtual news conference, Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson announced the beginning of “Recover Pensacola,” set to kick off this week to initiate the rebound from the COVID-19 outbreak.

“It’s time for us to start coming back, and beginning to recover and beginning to open up; however, we do not want to do anything that would sacrifice safety, and so we’re looking to be measured,” said Robinson, from his office at City Hall.

The plan contains a number of elements covering key areas such as parks -- which are scheduled to reopen on Friday – and restaurants.

COVID-19 and looking to the post-coronavirus future highlighted Mayor Grover Robinson’s virtual news conference on Monday.

Speaking from his office at City Hall after being cleared to end his self-quarantine, the mayor says other than some fallen tree limbs that were removed from roadways, there was little if any damage from the storms that moved through early Monday.

Elsewhere, there’s been talk about just when normalcy begins to creep back into everyday life. Robinson says for Pensacola, the most critical question is how to measure the importance of reopenings.

Pensacola Mayor Grover Robinson’s second virtual news conference Monday crossed the spectrum on the coronavirus, what the city’s doing to curb its spread, and a bit of a preview of after it passes.

“We encourage everyone to continue to follow the CDC guidelines and take preventative actions, even if you feel perfectly healthy,” said Robinson.

Speaking from his home where he’s under quarantine, the mayor said he spoke with officials from area hospitals, and all facilities seem to be “on green” for now when it comes the number of beds.