ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings has signed a State of Local Emergency urging all residents and visitors to wear masks when in an indoor space with others whether they are vaccinated or unvaccinated.

At a press conference on Wednesday, Demings said he wants residents and visitors to follow updated CDC guidelines to avoid a shutdown.

“The health of our community has a direct effect on our community,” Demings said, “(We need to) avoid a collapse of our economy that would be self-inflicted.”

In addition, the mayor announced that all county employees must be fully vaccinated by the end of September. That means county employees will need to have at least one shot by the end of August.

Requirement for union employees will be negotiated with bargaining units.

The mayor is asking all businesses to mandate their employees to get vaccinated and to have employees wear masks indoors regardless of vaccination status.

“I want to show our residents and visitors Orange County is being proactive … we remain focused on lowering our numbers of hospitalizations,” Demings said. “I have endeavored to keep you fully informed during this pandemic.”

Orange County has had its highest number of new COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began. On Tuesday, Orange County had 1,371 new cases.

With the rise of new cases, Demings says area hospitals have also seen an increase in patients.

“The crisis continues at our area hospitals. They are seeing a significant increase in COVID patients,” Demings said.

On May 26, Orlando Health had 61 patients with COVID-19, on Tuesday Demings said there were 286 patients.

According to the mayor, AdventHealth said they had 841 patients last year on July 17, and this week they had 811 patients.

ORANGE COUNTY, FLORIDA DECLARATION OF STATE OF LOCAL EMERGENCY – EMERGENCY EXECUTIVE ORDER N0. 2021-24

Source: https://www.wesh.com/article/orange-county-state-of-emergency-masks/37157173