Even after county officials issued a curfew to stop the spread of coronavirus, people in Tallahassee were meeting in large groups. Even after the governor issued a “safer-at-home” order, effectively directing all Floridians to limit their travels to essential business, large parties were still drawing a crowd.

The Tallahassee Police Department responded to 72 large gatherings between March 25 and April 5. Forty-four of them happened in the six days after Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a sweeping statewide order meant to limit non-essential gatherings.

They included a block party advertised on Facebook on Friday on Basin Street, several large parties at apartment complexes, gatherings of people at Corner Pocket Bar and Grill, a group of 10 people on the tennis courts at Lafayette Park, 15 kids playing at a private residence and a group of 20 kids playing football at Godby High School.

Twenty-seven of the calls for service came at apartment complexes where callers described large gatherings or full-blown parties. Twice, police busted up a gathering of more than 10 people at the Tallahassee Midtown Arcade Amusement Center, an internet Café on Northwood Boulevard.

TPD Spokesman Kevin Bradshaw said there were no reported arrests or citations issued in any of the incidents, but people involved cooperated with police when asked to disperse.

The numbers, which indicate a portion of the population are not heeding social distancing guidelines or stay-at-home orders, were part of City Manager Reese Goad’s COVID-19 update given to the City Commission Wednesday afternoon.

TPD Chief Lawrence Revell said "the trend" of gatherings has slowed, but police officers would continue to be vigilant.

"We cannot continue to tolerate these groups gathering today," he said.

City Parks Director Ashley Edwards said there has been an issue with people gathering in groups at parks in the evening, particularly popular ones like Cascades Park. She said if the problem persists, they may explore changing park hours or closing them.

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Goad also give an operational update on the local response to the global pandemic that continues to spread throughout the country.

As of Wednesday morning, more than 70 positive cases had been identified in the capital city with several not travel related, signifying that community spread of the virus is occurring.

The Leon County Sheriff’s Office has not reported similar numbers, but Spokesman Deputy Shade McMillian said since Monday deputies have fielded calls about gatherings at three local parks, Broadmoor Pond Park, Apalachee Regional Park and the Fred George Greenway, that were broken up.

Tuesday LCSO sent a stern message about gatherings.

“Regardless of how good your intentions, LCSO will enforce CDC guidelines,” officials wrote in a social media post. “No events of more than 10 people. This is serious.”

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City Commissioners will also weigh whether to use $63,970 in money intended for Springtime Tallahassee, Word of South and Shakespeare Festival — all of which are canceled — to buy as many as 30,0000 cloth masks for staff and to distribute to the community.

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City officials say they have been in contact with Tallahassee-based sock maker Divvy Up, volunteer groups and Barbara Westcott, a local entrepreneur. They say they can provide the number of masks being requested following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's updated guidelines recommending Americans wear masks when in public.

Contact Karl Etters at ketters@tallahassee.com or @KarlEtters on Twitter.

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