ORLANDO, Fla. — Orange County is preparing to open for business in phases, but not without proper precautions and hearing from all sides.
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The county’s Economic Recovery Task Force met for the first time Wednesday.
The main speakers in the virtual meeting of 50 people Wednesday were from the health care industry.
“This is going to be important for us to keep this on the forefront, especially for our business community," said Dr. Scott Brady, Advent Health Senior Vice President of Ambulatory Services. "They are going to need supplies. They’re going to need medical masks. They’re going to need thermometers, things like that. Today we have adequate supplies, but I will tell you they are not abounding.”
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings again said health data will be used in the decision making, and the availability of testing is critical to a phased reopening. The group must also make sure they are in compliance with state and federal rules put into place.
The owner of J. Henry’s Barber Shop is one of the 50 people on the task force. Henry said he understands prioritizing health data over specific dates to re-open. He says that approach requires patience, and while it may not be the popular opinion now, he wants to ease restrictions safely.
“Sometimes we get caught in chasing a dollar bill, and of course we need money and I get that, but what good is having a whole lot of money and your health has declined over something that you had control of?” J. Henry said.
But Chuck Whittall, president of Unicorp National Development, which has several shopping and entertainment complexes in the area, says we need to have the needs of the business owner in mind too.
"I can tell you from the daycares to the hair salon to the restaurants, and I don’t care if it is a small restaurant or a big restaurant, we’ve got some of the biggest restaurants that rent from us, they are all weeks, weeks, not months, weeks from completely going broke," Whittall said.
The task force will break into working groups and focus on three phases of reopening based on low, medium, and high human interaction.
The next full task force meeting is on Tuesday, April 28.