Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings has this afternoon outlined his plans to bring control to the surging COVID-19 Delta variant in the community.
There were 1371 new cases of COVID-19 reported yesterday in Orange County - an all time high since the pandemic began. The 14-day positivity rate is now 15.58%, a new record, and four times higher than it was June 16. Vaccination levels in the community stand at 62.34%.
Demings went on to say that area hospitals are facing a crisis. AdventHealth is seeing the fastest rate of new patients since the pandemic began.
An Executive Order has been signed by the Mayor declaring a local emergency, and Demings has urged residents and visitors to wear a mask when in an indoor space with others - following yesterday's new CDC guidelines. He pleaded with businesses, including the theme parks, to mandate vaccinations for employees and that both employees and patrons wear masks when indoors.
When asked specifically about Walt Disney World, Demings said that he expects all of the area's theme parks to follow the new CDC guidelines.
Disney is yet to make any comment or change its mask policy, but based on today's briefing from Orange County and yesterday's CDC guidance, it would seem very likely that Disney will have to respond in the coming days.
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