Orange County working on plan to reopen businesses amid coronavirus pandemic
LAKE MARY, Fla. - The White House is expected to release new guidelines today on when and how states can reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic
President Donald Trump and Vice-President Mike Pence are set to talk with governors in all 50 states to finalize the guidelines. On Wednesday, President Trump said he hoped some states could reopen before May first.
“Not all states are the same. Some are very different, having very little problems. Some have done such a good job that they have very little problem and they’re ready to go."
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Ultimately, governors and mayors will have to make decisions after the guidelines are announced. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said he has a task force that would consider when to reopen businesses in the state, possibly on a rolling basis—public schools, universities, restaurants and gyms. DeSantis said he is worried relaxing social distancing measures will cause coronavirus case numbers to rise again.
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said the county is already working on its plan to reopen and officials will be looking at federal and state officials guidelines.
“What that reopening will look like is going to be different depending on the type of business we’re talking about but with their input we hope to capture that and come up with some recommendations,” the mayor said.
Mayor Demings said he plans to discuss the county’s reopening plan more in depth on Friday, April 17, which could include new mandates for screenings and taking temperatures at certain businesses.
“We are still not out of the woods when it comes to this forced shutdown,” Demings said, “We will have to achieve widespread consensus from our healthcare leaders to ensure the virus is not a threat in our community before we reopen business.”