St. Pete Strives To Be Safest Community During Coronavirus

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — The city of St. Petersburg launched its Race to Safe community campaign on Monday in an effort to make St. Pete Florida's safest community during the coronavirus pandemic.

Mayor Rick Kriseman and city council members gathered outside St. Pete City Hall in the rain to speak to the media about encouraging residents to keep up coronavirus safety precautions as the community waits for vaccines.

"Let's be honest folks, the majority of our community will not receive a vaccine for quite some time," Kriseman said. "And so we still have a lot of work to do. And that's why today, we're announcing the Race to Safe."

Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a news release on Nov. 25 that vaccines will be distributed first to elderly residents in long-term care facilities and frontline health-care workers who are interacting with vulnerable patients.

Kriseman said St. Pete and Pinellas County have remained a step ahead of the virus, but there is room for improvement to stem the spread of the virus. He encouraged residents to do better at wearing masks when inside businesses, and for everyone to keep their guard up because this isn't over.

Residents can expect to see Race to Safe education material posted on social media, sidewalks and billboards.

"Right now at StPeteRaceToSafe.com, there's a new toolkit," Kriseman said. "You'll see it alongside other helpful information. You'll also see the Race to Safe standings, showing where we are in comparison to Florida's most populated counties."

The city will continue to issue citations to businesses that aren't enforcing St. Pete's mask mandate to customers and staff members.

Kriseman mentioned there have been several businesses along Beach Drive and near the St. Pete Pier, both popular tourist areas, that have recently been cited for not following the mask mandate.

The mayor's announcement comes after Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri held a conference on Thursday warning county residents and businesses that they are going to start cracking down on the ones that ignore the mask mandate.

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