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On Thursday, March 3, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings announced the end of a mask mandate for all county employees as the Omicron Variant surge starts to subside.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, “Omicron infections were disruptive to county work, with more than 300 employees out with the virus in January compared to just 13 now. Wastewater surveillance also had shown a 99.7% decrease since January 6, when 18.8 million gene copies of COVID-19 were found per liter of sample.” But those disruptive infection rates–which hit a positivity rate as high as 40%–have now dropped to 6.4%.
Credit: orangecountyfl.net
“We want to be cautious, but we’ll be relaxing our mask mandate for our employees inside our facilities,” Demings said. It should be noted that employees of Orange County medical and correctional facilities are still required to wear masks.
The Walt Disney World Resort sits in both Orange County and Osceola County, Florida. While Guests may not notice much of a chance in their experience, Guests may find relief in the development of the overall area.
Credit: MyNews13
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But for those Guests still anxious about traveling, the Sentinel states, “The county also is keeping its three testing sites open at Barnett Park, the Econ Soccer Complex, and the South Orange Youth Sports Complex. Free testing is available each day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.”
Mayor Demings’ decision follows Walt Disney World’s recent decision to make face coverings optional in all outdoor and indoor areas save for enclosed public transportation systems such as the Disney Skyliner and the Walt Disney World Monorail System. While Disney World claims optional mask-wearing is only for “fully vaccinated” Guests, however no vaccination status check is enforced.
credit: Disney
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We at Disney Fanatic will continue to keep our ears to the ground to report back to our readers any news that could affect their Walt Disney World vacation.
