MANATEE COUNTY – The Manatee County Commission voted 4-3 on Friday, April 17 to extend the county’s curfew until Tuesday, April 21, when it was set to be discussed again at the regular Tuesday commission meeting.
The vote was in response to Public Safety Director Jake Saur’s request to extend the curfew for seven more days.
“Manatee County has not yet achieved a flatting of the curve. Our response to COVID-19 is going to continue for some time. Therefore, sustained efforts to promote social distancing that slow the spread or flatten the curve remain more crucial than ever. Over the next few weeks, while our health and medical community remain on the front lines and under a great deal of stress, we need to be doing all that we can to build and maintain resiliency in ourselves and in our community,” Saur said when seeking the curfew extension.
Saur said COVID-19 cases in Manatee County are now predicted to peak during the week of May 3 instead of on or around April 21 as previously predicted.
When enacted by a 5-2 vote on April 3, the curfew took effect from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. daily. Travel during that overnight timeframe was supposed to be restricted to the essential businesses, services or activities set forth in Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Executive Order 20-91, which some public officials refer to as a “stay-at-home” order. That order is currently scheduled to expire on Thursday, April 30, unless DeSantis extends it.
During Friday’s meeting, six county residents spoke in opposition to the curfew. They questioned the need for a curfew and said it violated their civil and constitutional rights.
The five doctors who spoke in favor of extending the curfew stressed the need to continue the efforts to “flatten the curve” and “slow the spread” to help prevent a surge of COVID-19 patients from potentially overwhelming the three hospitals in Manatee County.
As he did the week before, Sheriff Rick Wells requested the curfew be extended in part to lessen his deputies’ exposure to those carrying the coronavirus. Wells said more county residents are aware of the county curfew than they are of the governor’s executive order. He also said his deputies would continue enforcing and educating the public about the governor’s order with or without a county curfew.
Saur said more than 50 Emergency Medical Service responders have been exposed to the virus since the pandemic began and eight were currently being withheld from active duty.
When he and Wells first requested the curfew on April 3, Saur said EMS was responding to an average of 100 COVID-19 calls per day. Saur said each call takes an average of two hours, including the time EMTs spend putting on and taking off their personal protective equipment and sterilizing their ambulances and equipment.
Commissioner Priscilla Trace was one of five commissioners to support the curfew on April 3. On April 10, she supported a seven-day extension of a modified curfew. During Friday’s meeting, she made the motion to extend the curfew until Tuesday only.
“I think that the curfew’s run its course, but I’d like to wait until Tuesday to decide. We should hear from the governor and the president by then. Keep the curfew going until Tuesday and then make the decision on Tuesday,” Trace said.
Commission Chair Betsy Benac supported the curfew during the two previous votes. On Friday, she joined Commissioners Vanessa Baugh and Steve Jonsson in opposing the extension. Benac said she did not support extending the curfew until Tuesday. She supported extending it for seven more days or letting it expire.
