Leon County Health Official Says Area's COVID-19 Numbers Are Rising
Leon County Health Department's Claudia Blackburn says the area's COVID-19 numbers are starting to creep up, and residents need to continue taking health precautions such as wearing face masks and social distancing.
"We all want to return to normal. We all want an economy and our schools to open. And we also want to protect our family and friends from the pandemic. Our finest medical researchers are clear. If we fail, there will be an even worse consequence for our families and our economy," Blackburn says.
Blackburn says people should stay home for the holidays and not gather with family and friends. She says a lot of FSU students went home for Thanksgiving, and that may impact the area's COVID-19 case numbers in the coming weeks.
"We still have a lot of college-aged people that live in our community, and about 49% of our cases now are between the ages of 18 and 34," Blackburn says.
Leon County Commissioners Add Funds To Leon CARES programs
Leon County commissioners are approving more than $4 million to help people impacted by the pandemic pay for their rent and utilities. County Administrator Vince Long says the money will cover most of the remaining applicants who had previously applied for individual assistance from the county before the initial funds ran out.
"We have funded approximately 3,000 individual assistance applicants. And this funding will support an additional approximately 1,600 applications. In addition, commissioners, small business assistance program to date we have funded over 600 local small businesses with over 300 more to be paid through this additional allocation," Long says.
The county also approved nearly $7 million for small business assistance. The funding will funnel through existing Leon CARES programs. The money comes from the Florida Housing Finance Corporation's COVID-19 relief fund.
