Mayor Demings Provides An Update on Orange County Florida's Progress During Re-Opening

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The mayor of Orange County, Florida provided an update on local goals and initiatives.

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Orange County Mayor, Jerry Demings, held a press conference to update the public on the weekly goals and initiatives that are being implemented to increase public health and safety.

In today’s press conference, Mayor Demings spoke to the three weekly goals on which his administration is focused. First, is the distribution of free personal protective equipment (PPE) to small businesses. The distribution of one million masks to small businesses began today, with a focus on businesses with 25 employees or less.

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The second goal is to continue to work to reduce the spread of the virus. Dr. Yolanda Martinez, the head of the Orange County Health Services Department, stressed the importance of safe distancing, face masks, and other health precautions to reduce the spread. It was also noted that until a vaccine is created, sanitization efforts will be of the utmost importance.

And the third goal is to continue to increase testing. Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer announced that new mobile testing sites are coming to the city to help support this initiative.

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Orange County Comptroller, Phil Diamond, stated that in month of March, tourist tax collections decreased by 56.5% compared to March 2019. Additionally, the tourism industry was ahead by $10 million at the beginning of the year, but is now behind by $70 million. He noted tourism’s finances will be affected by Shanghai Disneyland’s reopening along with the local parks’ future re-opening.

The team stated it is too early to tell how the re-openings are affecting the data, so they do not have a timeline for moving to “Phase Two” yet.

Spaceship Earth

Mayor Demings also stressed the importance of personal and social responsibility to stop the spread of the virus. These goals are intended to increase public health and safety as certain businesses have started to reopen. Disney Springs will also begin to reopen in phases starting on May 20th. We’ll continue to keep an eye on any updates in the Orlando area.