SANFORD, Florida. Seminole County became the last Central Florida government Monday to order masks for closed places open to the public.
The county also issued new social distancing requirements for “meeting places, businesses, and other places open to the public.”
The order takes effect on July 1. The county says the goal of the order is to achieve voluntary compliance, but if they have complaints about places that don’t follow the rules, authorities will be able to handle it.
The order applies to both unincorporated and incorporated parts of the county (i.e. cities).
County leaders said business reports they had to close because employees and customers had become ill were a major factor in the decision.
“Seminole County continues to believe that we can rebuild the economy and stay safe at the same time,” said county emergency manager Alan Harris. “These are not mutually exclusive concepts.”
The rule of facial coatings It is required for all who work, live, or visit the county if social distancing is not possible, especially indoors.
The order includes several exemptions for the face-covering rule, including for health cases, hearing problems, people who exercise outdoors while maintaining social distance and eating or drinking.
Seminole County issued a social distancing order in March, when coronavirus cases began to increase. It included occupancy and group meeting limits, and also required that employees and customers be separated by at least 6 feet. That order was alleviated approximately a month later.
This new order is less stringent, but county leaders say it enforces CDC guidelines.
Since early June, however, cases have increased across the state and in Seminole County. Seminole Commission President Jay Zembrower says the cases have doubled since June 22 and that there is a clear community outreach, with 92 cases currently hospitalized.
Dr. Timothy Hendrix with AdventHealth has seen a steady increase in cases at his facility since Memorial Day.
Initially, Hendrix said they saw mostly younger people entering CentraCare urgent care centers, but now the cases are getting older and they are seeing more cases in the hospital.
“I can tell you at CentraCare right now, 21 percent of our tests are testing positive for what we are doing in our urgent care,” Hendrix said. “At its worst during the previous increase in April, that number was 12 percent. So it gives you an insight into how widespread this virus is in our community.”
The county wanted to reiterate that at this time, Seminole County hospitals weren’t overwhelmed, but they wanted to be proactive so that didn’t happen, especially since they were already seeing people with fans again.
Florida recorded 114 new cases of coronavirus in Seminole County by June 28 in their latest county report. More than 1,100 new cases have been reported daily since June 22, according to the state.
Hendrix said he wanted to make it clear that wearing a mask was the best way to prevent transmission of the virus.
“Part of the social contract of being in the community and getting back to normal will be wearing these masks,” said Hendrix.
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