Orange County mayor declares local state of emergency, encourages masks indoors

With COVID-19 cases surging and the county’s rolling 14-day positivity rate at 15.58%, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings has declared a local state of emergency.

On Wednesday, July 28, Demings signed an executive order urging residents and visitors — whether vaccinated or unvaccinated — to wear masks while indoors and comply with current Centers for Disease Control guidelines.

The CDC’s most current guidelines recommend vaccinated people mask up indoors if they live in a place with substantial or high coronavirus transmission. According to a hot-spot map, the entire state of Florida is considered high risk.

County officials said 1,371 people tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, July 27 — the county’s highest single-day increase in cases since the pandemic began.

Along with asking people to wear masks indoors, Demings also requested that all businesses mandate vaccines for their employees. Additionally, all county employees are required to receive the vaccine by Aug. 31.

“If we pull together, we can prevent a collapse of our economy,” Demings said.

To read Demings' executive order, click here.