COVID-19 Cases Reported In Florida Prison Inmates, Staff Cases Rise
April 6, 2020
The Florida Department of Corrections is reporting two prisoners that are positive for COVID-19 and a growing number of cases among staff.
Two inmates at the Blackwater Correctional Facility in Milton have been diagnosed positive.
There are 23 total employees and contract staff that have tested positive for COVID-19 at 15 prisons. That includes one at Century Correctional Institution and five at the privately operated Blackwater Correctional Facility.
Here’s How The Escambia County, Alabama, Sheriff Will Enforce Stay-At-Home Order
April 6, 2020
Escambia County (AL) Sheriff Heath Jackson expects citizens in his county will mostly follow the stay-at-home order issued by Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey.
The order, which went into effect at 5 p.m. Friday, means that everyone in Alabama must stay home except for essential activities and services.
“I feel pretty confident our citizens in Escambia County will be abide with the order and only come out when it’s essential. I have faith in our communities, and feel like people will reel in others for everybody’s safety and well being,” Jackson said.
“We plan to address situations that are blatant disregard for the law, but as far as interfering with day to day essential ways of life in our communities, we don’t plan to interfere,” Jackson said.
For more details on Alabama’s stay-at-home order, click here.
Two WEAR Channel 3 Employees Test Positive For COVID-19
April 5, 2020
Two employees at WEAR TV 3 in Pensacola have tested positive for COVID-19, the station announced during a Sunday evening newscast.
“Out of an abundance of caution, we have suspended production in our newsroom starting Sunday for the next several days,” the station said on their website.
Sunday evening’s newscast on Channel 3 was mostly broadcast from their sister station WPMI TV 15 in Mobile; both stations are owned by the same company. During a local segment broadcast from the front lawn of the TV station, WEAR anchor Sue Straughn announced the COVID-19 cases and said WEAR 3 will continue to air local news.
NorthEscambia.com is a news partner with WEAR 3 – we often share stories, photos, and video. NorthEscambia.com publisher William Reynolds said no one from NorthEscambia.com has had any physical contact with anyone from WEAR 3 in many weeks, nor has anyone from NorthEscambia.com been inside WEAR’s studio this year.
“We wish our friends at WEAR the very best as they work through these trying times, and we offer our prayers to those directly impacted,” Reynolds said.
McDavid Special Needs Girl Gets Special Surprise Drive-By Birthday Parade From Escambia First Responders
April 5, 2020
In the days of COVID-19 and social distancing, traditional birthday parties for kids are out.
A 15-year old special needs girl in McDavid was unable to have a party Saturday, but the party came to Ella Kizer thanks to Escambia County first responders.
Led by Escambia County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Chip Simmons, the parade included other deputies, the ESCO Mounted Posse, Escambia County EMS and the McDavid and Molino stations of Escambia Fire Rescue along with decorated vehicles with friends and family.
For a photo gallery, click here.
As the parade passed by, Ella shrieked with joy and waved. She received presents, birthday cupcakes and balloons.
“This is for me? Wow,” she exclaimed with a huge smile. “This is the best birthday ever!”
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
COVID-19 Last Week: First Escambia County Death, Local Cases Triple
April 5, 2020
A 75-year old woman was the first person to die in Escambia County from COVID-19, as confirmed Saturday by the Florida Department of Health.
The woman had no travel history and no known contact with a previously diagnosed case.
The number of hospitalizations in Escambia County nearly doubled as of Saturday’s report, increasing from five Friday evening to nine on Saturday.
In the one week period from March 29, the number of Escambia County cases tripled from 37 to 118 on Saturday, April 4. During the same time period, cases in Pensacola jumped from 26 to 84, and the number of Cantonment cases over doubled from nine to 19. The first case was reported during the week in the Century area.
With A Dysfunctional Website In Shambles, Florida Releases Paper Unemployment Applications
April 5, 2020
Floridians frustrated with trying to file for unemployment on the state’s broken website now have the option of downloading and filing a paper form.
There is the catch that “paper applications could potentially take longer to process than completing an online application,” the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) says on the state’s unemployment site. But a large number of NorthEscambia.com readers have told us they have spent day after day trying to file the online application only to receive error messages. Local residents have also reported that they have spend hours on hold after calling the state’s call center.
The DEO quietly posted the forms late Friday, but did not send out a press release to notify the media.
The website is in shambles after being overwhelmed by applicants suddenly out of a job due to the coronavirus. There were 152,687 new initial unemployment benefit applications just last week, far exceeding the previous record of a little over 40,000 in 2009. It’s not known how many people tried and failed last week.
The state made the move to an online system until October 2013. There are members of the state legislature calling for investigations into the failures of the $77 million website.
“77 million? Someone should go to jail over that,” tweeted Sen Joe Gruters.
The applications can be downloaded in English, Spanish or Creole by clicking here. The complete forms are mailed to:
Florida Department of Economic Opportunity
P.O. Box 5350
Tallahassee, FL 32314-5350
Gov. Ron DeSantis is sending workers from other state agencies to the DEO to help process unemployment applications. He has also waive a 2011 law that requires applications to be filed online.
“I think this requires all hands on deck,” DeSantis said. “We have a lot of state government functions that are generally important but just not as important right now given what we’re dealing with.”
How Many COVID-19 Cases Are In Your Zip Code In Escambia County?
April 5, 2020
The Florida Department of Health has released COVID-19 case information by zip code in Escambia County.
NorthEscambia.com is publishing the Florida Department of Health zip code information, but we are adding several notes of caution:
- Zip codes vary greatly in area and population in Escambia County. Some with over 40,000 people, some with less than 1,000.
- Zip codes have very irregular boundaries. You may live much closer to a larger population base in a neighboring zip code than in your own.
- The zip code data reflects where people live. It does not reflect where they have traveled or spent most of their time.
- You should not presume that zip codes with no cases do not have anyone with COVID-19. They are likely there, but just no positive tests yet.
- There were zip codes in the FDOH data for Gulf Power and the Naval Hospital. These had zero cases, but also have zero population. We removed them from this list.
- There were mistakes in the FDOH’s list of areas in zip codes, but the cases were presumably assigned to the correct zip code.
- Data in this report was current as of midnight Saturday.
- No decisions should be made based upon this data.
- We are publishing this data only because (1) It’s facts from FDOH (2) It demonstrates that cases are spread across the county (3) This is really more for numbers nerds.
There were four zip codes in Escambia County with no reported COVID-19 cases as of Saturday night. They are 32568 in McDavid and Walnut Hill, 32577 in Molino, 32508 in Warrington, and 32509 in Bellview, (Molino reported one Sunday morning that is not reflected in this report.)
Zip Code: 32501
Cases: <5
Areas: Pensacola, Brent, Goulding, West Pensacola
Population: 11,557
Zip Code: 32502
Cases: <5
Areas: Pensacola, Warrington
Population: 3,185
Zip Code: 32503
Cases: 14
Areas: Pensacola, Brent, Ensley, Ferry Pass, Goulding
Population: 34,520
Zip Code: 32504
Cases: 11
Areas: Pensacola, Brent, Ensley, Ferry Pass
Population: 23,080
Zip Code: 32505
Cases: 5 to 9
Areas: Pensacola, Bellview, Brent, Ensley, Goulding, Myrtle Grove, Warrington, West Pensacola
Population: 24,965
Zip Code: 32506
Cases: <5
Areas: Bellview, Myrtle Grove, Warrington, West Pensacola
Population: 36,923
Zip Code: 32507
Cases: 5 to 9
Areas: Pensacola, Myrtle Grove, Warrington, West Pensacola
Population: 31,288
Zip Code: 32508
Cases: 0
Areas: Warrington
Population: 5,381
Zip Code: 32509
Cases: 0
Areas: Bellview
Population: 702
Zip Code: 32511
Cases: 5 to 9
Areas: Myrtle Grove, West Pensacola
Population: 1,145
Zip Code: 32514
Cases: 14
Areas: Pensacola, Ensley, Ferry Pass, Gonzalez
Population: 41,373
Zip Code: 32526
Cases: 18
Areas: Bellview, Brent, Ensley, Myrtle Grove, West Pensacola
Population: 43,846
Zip Code: 32533
Cases: 19
Areas: Ensley, Gonzalez, Molino
Population: 31,436
Zip Code: 32534
Cases: 5 to 9
Areas: Brent, Ensley, Gonzalez
Population: 17,431
Zip Code: 32535
Cases: <5
Areas: Century
Population: 4,617
Zip Code: 32568
Cases: 0
Areas: McDavid, Walnut Hill
Population: 3,387
Zip Code: 32577
Cases: 0
Areas: Molino
Population: 5,346
Escambia School District Updates Free School Meals Sites; 11 Locations Removed
April 5, 2020
The Escambia County School District has revamped the list of schools where free meals will be available beginning Monday, April 6.
Eleven schools were removed from the list after a review of the proximity to other local providers and the number of families who visited each site.
The remaining 27 sites will provide children or teens a breakfast meal and a lunch meal during the same visit. The meals are designed to be carried away and consumed off campus; cafeterias and dining rooms will not be open. Meals will be distributed in a curbside pick-up operation. Food items will be in to-go containers and will consist of ready-to-eat food items that should be consumed when received or should be quickly refrigerated for consumption at a later time.
Meals will be distributed to children 18 and younger from 9 a.m. until noon Monday through Friday, except for Friday, April 10. Students must be present according to USDA policy.
Free meals will be available at the following schools:
- Jim Allen Elementary School, 1051 Highway 95A North, Cantonment
- Jim C. Bailey Middle School, 4110 Bauer Road, Pensacola
- Bellview Elementary School, 4425 Bellview Ave., Pensacola,
- Beulah Elementary School, 6201 Helms Road, Pensacola
- Beulah Middle School, 6001 W. Nine Mile Road, Pensacola
- Bratt Elementary School, 5721 North Highway 99, Century
- Brentwood Elementary School, 4820 N. Palafox St. (U.S. 29), Pensacola
- Ensley Elementary School, 501 E. Johnson Ave., Pensacola
- Ernest Ward Middle School, 7650 Highway 97, Walnut Hill
- Ferry Pass Middle School, 8355 Yancey Ave., Pensacola
- Global Learning Academy, 100 North P St., Pensacola
- Lincoln Park Elementary School, 7600 Kershaw St., Pensacola
- L.D. McArthur Elementary School, 330 E. Ten Mile Road, Pensacola
- Molino Park Elementary School, 899 Highway 97, Molino
- Montclair Elementary School, 820 Massachusetts Ave., Pensacola
- Myrtle Grove Elementary School, 6115 Lillian Highway, Pensacola
- Oakcrest Elementary School, 1820 N. Hollywood Blvd., Pensacola
- Pine Meadow Elementary School, 10001 Omar Ave., Pensacola
- Ransom Middle School, 1000 W. Kingsfield Road, Cantonment
- Scenic Heights Elementary School, 3801 Cherry Laurel Drive, Pensacola
- O.J. Semmes Elementary School, 1250 E. Texar Drive, Pensacola
- Sherwood Elementary School, 501 Cherokee Trail, Pensacola
- Warrington Elementary School, 220 N. Navy Blvd., Pensacola
- Warrington Middle School, 459 South Old Corry Field Road, Pensacola
- Booker T. Washington High School, 6000 College Parkway, Pensacola
- C.A. Weis Elementary School, 2701 North Q St., Pensacola
- West Pensacola Elementary School, 801 North 49th Ave., Pensacola
The following sites will no longer provide meals:
- Blue Angels Elementary School, 1551 Dog Track Road, Pensacola
- Cordova Park Elementary School, 2250 Semur Road, Pensacola
- Ferry Pass Elementary School, 8310 N. Davis Highway, Pensacola
- Longleaf Elementary School, 2600 Longleaf Drive, Pensacola
- Navy Point Elementary School, 1321 Patton Drive, Pensacola
- Northview High School, 4100 West Highway 4, Bratt
- Pensacola High School, 500 W. Maxwell St., Pensacola
- Pleasant Grove Elementary School, Owen Bell Lane, Pensacola
- A.K. Suter Elementary School, 501 Pickens Ave., Pensacola
- J.M. Tate High School, 1771 Tate Road, Cantonment
- Workman Middle School, 6299 Lanier Drive, Pensacola
Pictured: The campus security officer at Bratt Elementary School distributes meals. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
First Escambia County COVID-19 Death Reported; Case Count Inches Up In Escambia, Santa Rosa
April 4, 2020
The first COVID-19 death in Escambia County was reported Saturday morning by the Florida Department of Health. The fatality was a 75-year old female.
Santa Rosa County has recorded two deaths since the pandemic began.
The number of COVID-19 cases in Escambia County increased by five on Saturday, the Florida Department of Health said, while Santa Rosa positive cases increased by three
As of the Saturday evening report, the number of cases in Escambia County is now 118 with nine in the hospital, an increase of four hospitalizations since Friday. There are 50 confirmed cases in Santa Rosa County with seven in the hospital.
Escambia County cases:
- Total cases — 118 (+5 since Friday)
- Pensacola — 84
- Cantonment — 19
- Bellview — 5
- Perdido Key — 1
- Century — 1
- Residents: 110
- Nonresidents — 7
- Hospitalizations: 9
- Deaths — 1
- Men — 61
- Women — 57
- Youngest: 2
- Oldest: 94
Santa Rosa County cases:
- Total cases — 50 (+3 since Friday)
- Navarre — 15
- Milton — 15
- Gulf Breeze — 11
- Pace — 5
- Jay — 1
- Residents: 48
- Nonresidents — 0
- Hospitalizations — 8
- Deaths — 2
- Men — 30
- Women — 20
- Youngest: 2 months
- Oldest: 81
Florida cases:
- Total cases: 11,545
- Florida residents: 11,173
- Deaths — 195
- Hospitalized — 1,470
CDC Now Recommending Americans Wear Face Masks
April 4, 2020
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now recommending that people wear cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain.
The CDC said the recommendation applies in public settings where social distancing measures are difficult to maintain, such as in grocery stores and pharmacies, especially in areas of significant community-based transmission.
Maintaining six-feet minimum social distancing remains important to slowing spread of COVID-19. CDC also advises use of simple cloth face coverings to slow the spread of the virus and help people who may have the virus and do not know it from transmitting it to others.
Cloth face coverings fashioned from household items or made at home from common materials at low cost can be used as an additional, voluntary public health measure to help slow the spread of COVID-19.
The cloth face coverings recommended to slow spread of COVID-19 are not surgical masks or N-95 respirators. Those critical supplies must continue to be reserved for healthcare workers and other medical first responders, as recommended by current CDC guidance.