With Covid positivity rates climbing, city will step up mask mandate enforcement for businesses
October 13, 2020 - After hovering at a 3.6 percent rolling average over the last two weeks, Pinellas County's Covid-19 positivity rate climbed to 6.31 percent overnight, according to Tuesday's data from Florida Department of Health. This is the county's highest percent positivity since early August. Additionally, another 152 confirmed cases of the virus were reported overnight with four more deaths, bringing the county's total number of cases to 23,367 and deaths to 787. Mayor Rick Kriseman said that while officials have anticipated higher numbers due to the loosening of restrictions, he urged residents not to get complacent. He also said that enforcement will be stepped up throughout the city on businesses not following the mask mandate. Kriseman's spokesman, Ben Kirby, said that "decisions made at the state level have made this much harder and have created confusion" for residents. The Catalyst has a daily update on total cases by ZIP code, which you can find here.