BREAKING NEWS: Orange County Mayor Demings to Pass Executive Order Making Face Masks MANDATORY
This Just In: With the number of COVID-19 cases consistently on the up in Florida, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings has just signed an Executive Order making the use of face masks MANDATORY in an effort to minimize the resurgence in cases.
Demings said, “We do not want to experience another shutdown in our community,” Demings said, noting there could be more restrictions in the future.
Here’s a report from ClickOrlando:
The order will go into effect on Saturday (June 20th) this is two days before Walt Disney World is slated to start opening select resort hotels (May 22nd.) People will be permitted to take off face masks while eating or drinking but must wear them when they enter the establishment. Employees must also wear face coverings at all times.
Mayor Demings said of the move, “We’re buying time with this measure” in reference to trying to prevent further spread of COVID-19 while a vaccine or cure for the virus is found.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer has said that the county-wide order would cover Orlando as well and urged people to wear masks EVEN in the Florida humidity. Dyer said, “The virus is not only still here in our community, but it’s expanding in our community.
According to a recent piece in the Orlando Sentinel, Dr. Raul Pino who is the health department’s officer in Orlando said that he is monitoring the number of outbreaks across the county this includes 5 bars, a grocery store, a long-term care facility, workplaces and even in a construction company. Dr. Pino added that there are currently 152 cases linked to two ZIP codes which include student house for the University of Central Florida.
Orange County became an area of concern with 212 new cases reported on Thursday which had shattered the previous record set earlier this week. The rate of positive tests was in the double digits for the second day in a row. There has been a resurgence of cases across Central Florida over the last 10 days.
Many are attributing this increase to the face that businesses have reopened and people venturing out more. Officials fear that along with this is complacency in regards to following the CDC guidelines which include wearing masks and keeping a safe physical distance from each other.
Here’s a look Executive Order that has officially been signed by Mayor Demings:
Here's the signed executive order requiring people to wear face masks in Orange County: pic.twitter.com/xglhHdT6zI
— Ashley Carter (@AshleyLCarter1) June 18, 2020
It is the hope that measures like the one outlined above will help curb the spread of COVID-19 before another shutdown needs to be considered. As we have previously reported here at MickeyBlog, Walt Disney World ALREADY has a firm face mask policy in place with guests being required to wear one at the theme parks and Disney Springs.
This is a story that we’ll be following closely in the lead into Disney World Resorts opening next week. Keep checking in with us for the latest news and updates.