Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings continues to explore a way to return to a mask mandate

Jul 26, 2021 in "The Walt Disney Company"

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Posted: Monday July 26, 2021 11:00am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

In a briefing this morning, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings has said that he is exploring ways to re-introduce a mask mandate despite new state laws putting significant restrictions on his abilities to do so.

Guests continue to visit the Walt Disney World theme parks despite rising numbers in Florida

Several months ago, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law a ban on local leaders introducing any executive orders during a pandemic, effectively preventing the Orange County Mayor from doing anything to slow the spread of COVID in the area.

Mayor Demings stated that there are now 1000 new cases daily in Orange County, and said "We're now in crisis mode". Current numbers of new cases are similar to January 2021, before the vaccine was widely available.

As of Saturday, the current 14-day rolling positivity rate for Orange County is 13.96%, and the number of residents vaccinated for ages 12 and above is 61.59%.

The vast majority of Disney World guests do not wear masks, despite Disney's advice that only those who are vaccinated should go maskless in all areas

In addition to the rising levels of cases, the area's primary health provider, AdventHealth, has moved to its highest red alert level, with ICU space at capacity. The provider now delays non-critical procedures to focus on COVID-19 cases.

Demings left the briefing by saying that the next 24 to 48 hours are critical to his decision process, perhaps suggesting we may hear more about a possible mask mandate for the area later this week.

May we soon see a return of masks at Walt Disney World

Disney relaxed all mask and social distancing requirements as of June 15 when Orange County and the CDC dropped their recommendation for masks and distancing for those who are fully vaccinated.

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wdwmagicApr 14, 2022

This thread is going to take a break for a while until any changes are announced at Disney in regard to the last remaining mask requirements on transport.

Andrew CApr 14, 2022

If we are talking about WDW, put the blame on the company for keeping this silly rule in place. For airplanes, put the blame on the feds. When people realize stupid rules are in place and have no impact, they are going to be challenged. That’s just human nature and the reality throughout history. On the other end, when rules tend to make sense, people are more receptive. WDWs transportation rule is illogical. The feds 14 day extension of the public transportation rule at this point is the same. Expect more push back. It’s all about appearances than anything else and more and more people will pick up on that.

Chip ChippersonApr 14, 2022

No, you're not following the rules. You're planning the mask version of holding your finger an in from your siblings face and saying, "I'm not touching you!" And for the record, on my recent flights, the message was that masks had to be replaced between bites/sips, so unless you plan on holding g a drink to your mouth for the entire flight then you're not following the rules - but if you do that, please report back and let us know of how that worked out for you during turbulence.

Club CooloholicApr 14, 2022

I already explained it. It slows things down and makes it harder for the employees. And some might not really want to sit for 3 hours on a flight next to a guy sipping coffee the whole time.

Nonsensequitter75Apr 14, 2022

I don’t understand why you’re mad at me.

G00fyDadApr 14, 2022

There. Fixed the stupid. Now, go create ANOTHER account for me to ignore. :rolleyes:

Nonsensequitter75Apr 14, 2022

Thanks for understanding

G00fyDadApr 14, 2022

Okay.

Nonsensequitter75Apr 14, 2022

God bless, but no thank you.

G00fyDadApr 14, 2022

They are flag carriers for the socially inept and the self-important. They have one job here. It's stupid but they're going to do it.

G00fyDadApr 14, 2022

Just go back to your regular account. Please? For everyone.

Nonsensequitter75Apr 14, 2022

What can I say? I’m so lonely at this stage in my life, that the (virtual) company of people who hate me is better than the alternative, which is no company at all.

DisneyCaneApr 14, 2022

Hence why I asked the poster if they were intending to only experience outdoor attractions with outdoor queues. If yes, then I can at least understand their logic. If no, then the obsession about people not masking on transportation doesn't make any sense.