The Times-Union| Florida Times-Union

12:20 p.m. | 12 more COVID-19 deaths in Duval County, 180 across Florida

Duval County reported 12 additional deaths and Florida added 180 in a Friday report, raising the statewide death toll from the coronavirus pandemic above 8,000.

Those deaths, the Florida Department of Health reported, raise the statewide toll to 8,051 from COVID-19. The numbers include 7,927 residents and 124 from outside the state.| Read more

Statewide

Cases: 518,075

Current hospitalizations: 7,174

Total hospitalizations: 29,730

Resident deaths: 7,927

Cases in Northeast Florida

Duval:22,889

Clay: 3,186

St. Johns: 3,552

Nassau: 1,184

Baker:630

Putnam: 1,465| Read more

10:35 a.m. |Jacksonville police, community to honor officer who died of COVID-19-related illness

The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office isasking the community and fellow first responders to join them in saluting a fallen officer Friday afternoon.

The body of Lt. Chris Cunningham, will be moved from the Medical Examiner's Office to a Hardage-Giddens Funeral Homeat 1 p.m. Friday with a Sheriffs Office escort. Cunningham's fellow officers will line the route with their police cars, with lights on, in tribute.| Read more

10 a.m. |Health directors told to keep quiet as Florida leaders pressed to reopen classrooms

As Gov. Ron DeSantispushed this summerfor schools to reopen, state leaders told school boards they would need Health Department approval if they wanted to keep classrooms closed.

Then they instructed health directors not to give it.

Following a directive from DeSantis administration, county health directors across Florida refused to give school boards advice about one of the most wrenching public health decisions in modern history: whether to reopen schools in a worsening pandemic, a Gannett USA TODAY NETWORK review found.| Read more

8:35 a.m. |1.8M jobs added in July, unemployment falls to 10.2% as some states halt reopening, others press ahead

The U.S. added 1.8 millionjobs in July as payroll growth slowed amid a split-screen economy that had employers stepping up hiring in parts of the country that continued to let businesses reopen, even as COVID-19 spikes forced Sunbelt firmsto pull back and lay off workers.

The unemployment rate fellto 10.2%from 11.1% in June, the Labor Department said Friday.| Read more

EARLIER

Coronavirus: Florida reports 7,650 new cases; 5 new deaths in Northeast Florida

Florida gained almost 7,700 newcoronavirus cases, but the number of newdeaths dropped statewide, according to Thursday'sstate COVID-19 report.

Northeast Florida reported a total of 32,348 cases, with 353 new cases since Wednesday. Baker County reported a staggering 99 new cases, compared to six the day before. | Read more

The deadly cost of COVID-19: Michael Hartsfield had 'sweet, compassionate personality'

Michael A. Hartsfield lived in the Lake Forest area, near the Ribault and Trout rivers. He graduated from Ribault High School in 1993, and worked as a janitor for Innovation Cleaning Services.

Mr. Hartsfield died April 24 at Ascension St. Vincents Southside Hospital. He was 44 years old. | Read more

Gov. Ron DeSantis and Mayor Curry host school athletics roundtable at UNF

For the second time this week, Gov. Ron DeSantis visited Jacksonville for a roundtable regarding the coronavirus. But this time, the discussion focused largely on football.

Joined by the Florida Department of Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran, Mayor Lenny Curry and a who's who of well known Florida former athletes and coaches, the roundtable hosted at the University of North Florida centered around Gov. DeSantis' desire to launch K-12school sports especially high school sports despite the COVID-19 pandemic, quickly and safely. | Read more

Jacksonville police Lieutenant Chris Cunningham dies of COVID-19-related illness

A Jacksonville Sheriff's Office lieutenant has died from a COVID-19-related illness, police said Wednesday night.

JSO announced Lt. Chris Cunningham the commanding officer of the Crime Scene Unit, Latent Prints and the Photo Lab died Wednesday after more than 20 years of serving the community. | Read more

How do Duval students feel about going back to school? We asked them.

Worry. Masks. Dont feel safe. Sick.

Those are some of the words Duval County Public Schools students used most frequently when asked about returning to school.

With less than a month until the 2020-21 school year is supposed to start, the district has heard from hundreds of parents, teachers, bus drivers and other education stakeholders when it comes to its recently approved back-to-school plan. But what about the students? | Read more

Jacksonville distributing $3 million in additional COVID-19 aid

Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry said Wednesday that city officials are working to distribute additional financial relief forsmall businesses, senior citizens and residents with disabilities.

The City Council recently added$2 million into its small business relief fund and $1 million into its relief program for senior residents and people with disabilities. The money comes from the federal CARES Act grant the city received earlier this summer. | Read more

Jaguars' Josh Allen gave serious consideration to sit out season but his wife encouraged him to play

Jaguars defensive end Josh Allen will be coming off the edge again this season, determined to surpass his team-high 10.5 sacks in 2019.

Yet, opting to play in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic did not come without reservations, which included serious consideration to opt-out from playing to protect his family, especially with the birth of his second son only four months ago. | Read more

Fact check: Dr Pepper shortage? No. But aluminum can shortage may be behind lack of supply

The coronavirus pandemic has taken a toll on supply chains around the nation and manufacturersare struggling to keep up with the latest shifts in demand.

Earlier in the year cametoilet paperandhand sanitizer shortages, and more recently, anational coin shortage. Users on social media are claiming DrPepper is next.

Here's what we know. | Read more

NBA releases testing results, no players confirmed positive

The NBA's bubble is still working. The league released its latest results Wednesday for coronavirus tests performed on players participating in the restarted season at Walt Disney World, and the numbers are still perfect. | Read more

MORE

Duval Schools employees won't have to pay COVID-19 medical expenses under new proposal

Duval County Public Schools employees won't have to pay for medical expenses if they contract the coronavirus, under a new proposal announced Tuesday.

Duval Teachers United President Terrie Brady, Duval County School Board Chairman Warren Jones and Superintendent Diana Greenehosted a press conference in the Cline Auditorium ahead of a regular school board meeting to make the announcement.

"This is one of the most aggressive initiatives in the state for school district employees," Brady said at the conference. | Read more

Gov. DeSantis visits Jacksonville senior center to discuss lockdown's limitations

Family members who test positive for coronavirus antibodies may be allowed into senior care facilities soon if Gov. Ron DeSantis gets his way.

Tuesday afternoon, DeSantis visited Jacksonville's ElderSource senior center along with his wife Casey DeSantis to discuss protecting the elderly community at a roundtable meeting.

"We want to make sure what we're doing is really meaningful," Gov. DeSantissaid during the initial part of the roundtable that was open to the press. | Read more

COVID-19 pandemic closes downtown Jacksonville Alice in Wonderland-themed restaurant

10/Six Grille, the Alice in Wonderland-themed restaurant in downtown Jacksonville, has closed permanently less than a year after its opening a casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Owner Russ Disparti confirmed Tuesday he couldn't afford to reopen the restaurant in the historic Seminole Club building at 400 N. Hogan St. near Jacksonville City Hall.

"It was all the pandemic," Disparti said of the closure. "It takes so much money to open a restaurant. We'd put everything we had into it financially." | Read more

Amid COVID-19, FHSAA ponders multiple options to resume Florida high school sports

High school football in January? Shooting hoops in April?

One preliminary plan under consideration from the Florida High School Athletic Association brings severaloptions onto the table, as the governing bodycontemplates yet another route to return to sports amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Other options might wipe out state playoffs in high school team sports, while another could throw open the playoff gates for football to an even larger playoff field while adding a play-in round in the process. | Read more

Jaguars QB Gardner Minshew activated from reserve/COVID-19 list

The Jaguars starting quarterback Gardner Minshewreturned to the team's facility and resumed throwing passes to his receivers in training camp Tuesday after spending two days in quarantine.

Minshew was activated off the team's reserve/COVID-19 listafter going on the list Sunday withfive other players.

And it couldn't have come soon enough for Minshew, who said he didn't test positive for the virus but was in close contact with an infected teammate. | Read more

4 phases of COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials explained

Approving a vaccine in the U.S. usually takes years, but COVID-19 vaccines are moving through in record time. What does that mean?

Novavax becomes fifth COVID-19 vaccine developer to release promising early results

More good news in the pursuit of a COVID-19 vaccine: A fifth vaccine developer has released promising results from a small, early trial.

Novavax Inc., of Gaithersburg, Maryland,released the results via a press releaseand call with media late Tuesday, showing the vaccine appeared safe and elicited a similar immune response to an active infection with COVID-19. | Read more

Disney lost nearly $5 billion while theme parks were closed due to coronavirus

The Walt Disney Company lost nearly $5 billion April, May and June, while its theme parks were shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a presentation Disney executives made Tuesday.

It cost the company $3.5 billion just to close the parks during the third quarter, on top of the$1 billion it cost to shut them down the second half of March.

In all, the company posted a loss of nearly $5 billion for the third quarter, including a $2 billion loss in its parks, experiences and products segment. | Read more

President Trump gets heated about COVID-19 numbers during interview

President Trump told Axios' Jonathan Swan, 'It's under control as much as you can control it,' in terms of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S.

'It is what it is,' Trump says of rising coronavirus death toll as he insists outbreak is 'under control'

President Donald Trump said his administration has done an "incredible" job handling the coronavirus pandemic, and despite rising deaths, the outbreak is "under control" in a wide-ranging and contentious interviewthataired on HBOMonday night.

Axios national political correspondent Jonathan Swan began the interview by asking Trump if his sometimes "wishful thinking" and "salesmanship" were suitable during a crisis that haskilled more than 155,000 people in the USA.

"I think you have to have a positive outlook; otherwise, you would have nothing," Trump said. | Read more

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Coronavirus in Jacksonville: What you need to know for Friday, August 7 - The Florida Times-Union