Editor's Note: If you think you might have COVID-19, contact the Alachua County Health Department at (352) 334-7900 or the Student Health Care Center at (352) 392-1161.
The total confirmed coronavirus cases in Alachua County has now climbed into the double digits, according to the Florida Department of Health.
There are now 11 confirmed cases in the county, a daily report from the department shows. The four new cases are all Florida residents: a 27-year-old female with unknown travel history, a 51-year-old male who traveled to the Bahamas, a 39-year-old female who traveled to Georgia and a 42-year-old female who traveled to the Dominican Republic.
UF spokesperson Steve Orlando said the university has no information indicating that any of the cases in the county are UF faculty members. “That’s not a guarantee they’re not, but we haven’t been informed that they are,” he wrote in a text message.
However, it’s unclear if the actual number of total cases is 10 or 11.
A 64-year-old female who recently traveled to New York was incorrectly attributed as a case in Alachua county which actually belongs to Broward County, said Paul Myers, the administrator for the county department of health.
As of Thursday morning, the state’s daily report still has the case listed under Alachua County.
There are now more than 400 cases. Of this total more than 350 cases are Florida residents and more than 30 are non-residents, according to the Florida Department of Health.
The Courtyards, a student living complex located on Southwest Third Avenue, sent an email to residents Wednesday informing them about exposure to COVID-19 within the apartment community.
As a result, the apartment’s leasing office closed Thursday, with all common areas being cleaned and sanitized by an “outside professional company who is following all CDC guidelines.”
The email doesn’t state where in the apartment community the exposure was.
Other apartment complexes like 2nd Avenue Centre, located at 505 SW 2nd Ave., and The Ridge at Gainesville, located at 3718 SW 24th Ave., have also closed down their community common areas.
Postponed graduation date announced
Although UF’s May graduation ceremony was canceled in May, UF offered a postponed date for the Spring commencement ceremony.
UF sent an email linking to a survey Thursday afternoon to gauge interest from graduating students on the new ceremonial dates, which will be from July 31 to Aug. 2.
The survey is meant to see if students can go to the make-up ceremonial weekend. Tickets will not be required.
City facilities closed until further notice
Most city facilities are closed to the public indefinitely as of Wednesday, after City Manager Lee Feldman’s directive. However, the lobby of the Gainesville Police Department and Gainesville Regional Utilities will remain open, in addition to certain parks and public restrooms.
Fire, rescue and police services will continue to operate on their usual schedule, according to a city press release.
The press release also said some city employees are working remotely, while others are still reporting to work. All employees in city facilities are encouraged to practice social distancing.
Anxious while self-quarantining? UF Health has a solution
Both UF and Gainesville are undergoing changes because of the virus, and that can bring anxiety for many students.
Joseph McNamara described the differences between healthy and unhealthy anxiety in a video sent by UF Health Thursday morning, the co-director for UF’s Center of OCD, Anxiety and Related Disorders.
The difference is that healthy anxiety is protecting yourself from immediate danger whereas unhealthy anxiety takes that to another level, such as washing your hands for 20 seconds versus washing it for minutes and taking multiple showers because of the virus, McNamara said.
Those who do feel this level of unhealthy anxiety, which is not doing your normal routine out of fear for the virus, should seek help or contact the Alachua County Crisis Center if they need to talk to someone, said Ashley Ordway, the clinical coordinator of the center.
“During this time, it can be really difficult to identify whether or not our own anxiety is turning over to unhelpful anxiety,” Ordway said.
She also recommended finding apps that encourage mindfulness. The crisis center’s hotline is 352-264-6789.
Eduroam available across Florida
UF students can access eduroam, the free internet used on campus, across the country and at 97 sites in Florida, according to an email from the University Provost Joe Glover and Chief Information Officer Elias Eldayrie.
“We know that there are areas of the nation where access to broadband can be difficult,” they wrote. “We want to make sure that you know that a University of Florida student can access the national eduroam system at no charge.”
A map of eduroam sites across Florida is available online. Some cities included are Jacksonville, Orlando and Miami.
However, many of these locations are at Florida universities or at UF extensions, many of which are offering their courses online. Many of these campuses remain fully operational, but that may change as the situation evolves and COVID-19 cases begin to pop up in university and college communities.
The email added that in many of these sites, students don’t need to go into a building to be able to access the WiFi. Students can pick up the signal on most public spaces on campus, which is true for many of the other eduroam sites.
Students who have already set up eduroam should connect to the service automatically, according to the email. Otherwise, students can select the eduroam network on their devices and log in with their Gatorlink information.
Additional changes to RTS
In response to coronavirus, more changes will be made to the city’s public transportation starting Monday, according to a press release.
In addition to the buses already running at 50 percent capacity with a limit of 25 riders per bus, Gainesville’s Regional Transportation System has also suspended services for Routes 39, 76 and 800 -- all of which service Santa Fe College.
In the release, the city also asked that people who are immune-compromised, feel ill, are 65 or older with underlying health conditions or who are a contact of a known or suspected case of coronavirus refrain from riding the bus.
Bus cleaning procedures were not addressed in the press release.
Big businesses in Gainesville
Despite concerns of social distancing, some businesses in Gainesville are staying open. However, these big businesses are limiting their practice.
Some stores have changed their hours of operation, set up item limitations and set up special shopping hours for members of the community who may be more vulnerable to the virus.
Walmart has reduced its shopping hours from 7 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. and will be restocking and cleaning the store while hours of operation are closed to the public.
Starting Tuesday, Walmart will be implementing special shopping hours for shoppers aged 60 and older one hour before the store opens every Tuesday. Walmart is also enforcing item limitations for customers, including paper products, milk, eggs, cleaning supplies, hand sanitizers, water, diapers, wipes, formula and baby food.
Target has also reduced its hours and will be closing all stores at 9 p.m. daily.
The store is also reserving the first hour of shopping each Wednesday to support vulnerable guests, including the elderly or those with underlying health conditions.
A Target employee from Guest Services said it will not refuse anyone who tries to enter at this hour, but will have a representative outside informing customers that this hour is reserved for the elderly and those with underlying health conditions
Publix is designating Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, 7 to 8 a.m. as senior shopping hours for customers aged 65 and older. This change in hours will begin Tuesday. Publix is also suspending food samples and disinfecting stores to combat the spread of the virus.
The Oaks Mall is currently operating from noon to 7 p.m. and has not announced that it will close yet according to a mall representative.
Best Buy says they are shortening its store hours this week to 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. On Monday, will begin permitting only a small number of customers into the store at a time so it can enforce social distancing guidelines.
Local businesses
Local businesses are getting creative to curb drops in sales and restrictions brought on by coronavirus.
Volta Coffee, Tea & Chocolate co-owner Anthony Rue said the cafe has noticed a 20 to 25 percent decline in sales since all their services became to-go. Volta has an off-site kitchen developing a to-go menu to roll out next week as an attempt to draw business though the struggle.
“We have to diversify,” he said.
Rue said more problems were created on Wednesday, when Alachua County announced an emergency act forbidding any food service employee who has attended an event of more than 50 people to serve before waiting 14 days. He said this took out almost their entire staff.
On Thursday morning, Volta shut down. Rue said it will reopen Friday morning to sell coffee, chocolate and gift cards. They only have three or four employees in the clear from the provision, but he said everyone on staff will be able to work by next Wednesday.
In the meantime, Rue said Volta will support its employees by offering jobs like remodeling work, wall painting, and developing and testing new recipes.
“We’ll create what work we can,” he said.
The decline in sales is being offset by gift card purchases, which Rue said are a great way to continue supporting local businesses. He said people can also show support by following social media to see what they have to offer, like curbside drop-off and delivery.
Erik Zika, owner of Original American Kitchen (OAK), White Buffalo and The Range, said both bars are closed due to a state mandate for 30 days, leaving their employees out of work. He said the businesses are doing what they can to make sure they prosper when restrictions are lifted.
As for OAK, Zika said he has noticed significantly less people in the restaurant. Many regulations are in place, including a limit of 10 people to a table, no bar service and people being required to sit at least six feet apart.
He said marketing and strategies have to change almost every day. OAK now offers a daily brunch and is considering ways to offer large-scale takeout portions in the future, he said.
“We’re just trying to be creative and innovative in any way we can,” he said.
Zika encouraged calling all restaurants directly for takeout instead of using delivery services, since they take a significant portion of the total cost.
“Everyone just has to, as a country, come together and try to help each other the best that they can,” he said.
Dance Marathon schedules virtual event
Dance Marathon announced Thursday evening that they will be hosting their annual event virtually on March 28.
This was announced through a Facebook post on their page written by Connor Bennett, Dance Marathon’s executive director. It read that they will be posting a schedule of how to follow along with the event on that day through Facebook and Instagram.
“The population that we work so tirelessly for each and every year, are those at the greatest risk for dangerous reactions to the COVID-19 Virus,” Bennett wrote.
It is unknown how they will host the event and where it will be streamed from. The post read that more exact details will follow next week.
Alex De Luca, Stephany Matat, Grethel Aguila, Chasity Maynard, AJ Bafer and Anna Wilder contributed to this report.
Correction: The title of Elias Eldayrie has been updated to reflect that he is the Chief Information Officer for UF. The Alligator originally reported differently.
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
Anna Wilder is a second-year journalism major and the criminal justice reporter. She's from Melbourne, Florida, and she enjoys being outdoors or playing the viola when she's not writing.
