Orange County, City of Orlando under states of emergency

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. - In a news conference on Friday, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings and other Orange County leaders announced that a county resident died of coronavirus while being quarantined in California.

Leaders also announced a state of emergency in the county, along with the recommendation that gatherings of 250 people or more be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Mayor Demings also discussing the economic impact of the pandemic.

“We can’t quantify that to date but anytime you have these major theme parks that operate and have tens of millions of dollars of revenues on a daily basis, it’s going to be extraordinary," said Demings.

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer explained the impact will hit every level of the tourism industry.

“From the very top, large corporations that are going to lose profits but more importantly is how it’s impacting the worker that needs to get by on that weekly paycheck.”

Louban Nioubi manages a gift shop near Disney. She fears a drastic drop in customers.

“Like 80 percent(of business), from the tourists,” said Louban Nioubi, Manager, Studio East Gift Shop.

One hotel nearby says it has had an average of 60 cancellations daily for the past few days because of the coronavirus.

“We know that jobs are being impacted, and families are being impacted and we will be making decisions to assist families in need in the coming days but the bottom line is, we will get through this together," said Demings.