Duval County beaches will remain closed, Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry says.

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Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry said Tuesday that local beaches will remain closed because there arent enough local police to enforce social distancing requirements amid the coronvavirus outbreak.

Curry said local officials have contemplated for more than a week opening the beaches to joggers, walkers and surfers and prohibiting gatherings, although he said it wouldnt be possible to enforce those rules.

"It's just not a risk we're willing to take," he said. "We can't have people unnecessarily being within 6 feet of each other. We have to face the reality of the situation we're in, and we have to make difficult choices so we can have the least amount of hospitalizations and deaths as possible."

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The number of confirmed cases in Duval County rose to 524 people after the Florida Department of Health provided an update of testing results Tuesday morning. Ten people in Jacksonville have been confirmed as dying from the virus.

Less than 6 percent of Duval County residents tested are positive. While Curry said this was "good news," he said the data isnt an indication that the city is ready to resume life as usual.

"This is no time for us to rest and think we're out of this. In order to keep numbers low, we have to continue social distancing," Curry said.

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Curry also addressed the death of a 5-year-old girl caught in the crossfire of a shooting Monday, saying that the State Attorney and Jacksonvilles Sheriffs Office would be providing an update on efforts to arrest the shooter.

The restrictions put in place to slow the spread of the pandemic havent slowed violent crime, which has remained stubbornly high under Currys tenure as mayor despite election pledges to lower crime and hiring more police officers.

Curry said he is still open to enacting a local curfew as a measure to both enforce social distancing and slow crime, although he said the city lacks resources to truly enforce it without taking police from needed areas. An official with the Sheriffs Office also noted that Mondays shooting, which happened around 4 p.m., would have taken place outside the hours of the curfew.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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Coronavirus: Beaches will remain closed, according to Jacksonville mayor - The Florida Times-Union