As Covid numbers soar, council members wonder if it’s time for more safety measures

With Covid numbers on the rise and a two-week positivity rate of more than 10 percent, some city council members are questioning what needs to happen before additional restrictions are put into place and events are put on hold.

“This is extremely concerning to us and to many of the people we serve who have been doing all the right things and still we see these numbers,” council vice chair Gina Driscoll said at a meeting Thursday. “The city started out in the pandemic making bold moves to really lead the way in fighting this, but we’re at a point now where it seems so obvious that stronger measures are needed.”

She pointed out that anyone going to downtown St. Petersburg on a weekend night would think “the city doesn’t care about what’s happening with the virus” and while she recognizes the city police and code compliance team are doing what they can, she thinks they need to be given the power to do more in terms of enforcing the rules currently in place.

Driscoll then went on to question why the city is allowing the St. Petersburg Power and Sailboat Show – an event that typically attracts about 15,000 people over a four-day period – to be held next weekend. 

Deputy mayor and city administrator Kanika Tomalin said that anyone having an event is required to submit a mitigation plan and noted that there has been a lot of consultation between the organizers of the boat show, Mayor Rick Kriseman’s office and the city’s events team. Based on pandemic protocols, Tomalin said that a number of modifications to the event have been made, such as not having a tent or any enclosed spaces and requiring masks to be worn and tickets to be purchased in advance. 

“We’re working very hard to hold everyone accountable but also to find ways to continue normalcy as much as possible safely,” Tomalin said. “The organizers of this event submitted a plan that is much in line with other activities that happen throughout our city every day.”

Driscoll then said that the situation Tomalin described was similar to what organizers at the Grand Prix put together in October when that event was rescheduled, adding that the 2021 Grand Prix has already been moved from March to to April due to the pandemic.

“That’s not happening until March. This event is right around the corner and it’s OK but the Grand Prix had to be moved,” she said. “That doesn’t really add up. I think everyone can understand why there is grave concern about not only what this means but how it looks. What it looks like is we’re not walking the talk and I need to know what to tell people. Why is this event OK?”

Kevin King, the mayor’s chief of policy and public engagement, responded.

“The Mayor makes every decision based on science, not popularity,” King said, pointing out that Kriseman isn’t running for re-election. “He’s going to follow the science. The Grand Prix asked to move the race, not the city of St. Pete. The race will not occur in April if we’re not under five percent for a two-week average.”

In terms of enforcement of local emergency orders, Rob Gerdes, the city’s neighborhood affairs administrator, said the city has been active in educating businesses on safety requirements and issuing violations to those who aren’t in compliance. While the majority of businesses are following the rules, not everyone is listening.

“Unfortunately, we are still issuing a number of violations to bars and restaurants especially in the downtown core,” he said, adding that the city has issued more than 200 citations so far and that businesses who have been found in violation could potentially face additional penalties.

Later in the meeting, council member Brandi Gabbard questioned what number the percent positivity rate would need to reach before triggering restrictions, citing an example of New Orleans returning to phase one.

“I don’t even know at this point if I’m comfortable approving more events that come before this body,” she said. 

Tomalin called determining a specific number where new restrictions would be implemented a “non-exact science.” The city was at around a 12 percent positivity rate when The Pier was opened, she said, and city officials decided arbitrarily setting a number without consideration of all surrounding conditions and variables could deliver unintended consequences.

“We do not have a set number that is a trigger for any specific action. It just would be an oversimplification of the complexity of the question,” Tomalin said. “It’s not to say we will never have a number but to date as we have managed through this, this hasn’t been a tool we’ve found to be something we can rely on with the consistency that will serve our goals.”

The Florida Department of Health reported an additional 724 cases in Pinellas County Thursday and eight additional deaths due to Covid-19, bringing the cumulative county total since March to 48,998 cases and 1,114 deaths. The two-week percent positivity rate now stands at 10.4 percent with eight consecutive days in the double digits. As of Thursday afternoon, there were 387 people hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of Covid-19 in Pinellas County’s acute-care hospitals, with 13.6 percent of adult ICU beds available. More than 18,000 people have been vaccinated against the virus countywide.