ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Mayor Jerry Demings said he believes that Orange County’s state of emergency will be lifted next week because its COVID-19 positivity rate has been below 5% percent for 10 consecutive days.

What You Need To Know

  • Orange County might lift its COVID state of emergency next week, mayor says

  • The county COVID positivity rate has been below 5% for 10 days in a row

  • Some businesses say they are eager to see the return of international visitors

  • It may take time for travelers to plan trips, one businessman said 

  • Eased U.S. restrictions on international travelers will start Nov. 8 

On Thursday, it was 4.09%, and some business leaders said they hope that means they will be able to welcome back a large percentage of their business from overseas travelers.

Ciaran McArdle, who has owned XL Soccer complexes in Florida and along the Atlantic Coast for nearly 20 years, concedes that the next several months will likely be a challenge with all the back-and- forth between Washington, Tallahassee, and even Orange County. But at least it will move closer to normal.

“The biggest problem is going to be understanding what the laws are," McArdle said as he watched youths playing soccer. "There’s so many changes out there, it's almost a full-time job to keep up with what you can and can’t do.”

His business caters not just to leagues and open play for locals, but also to international soccer players.

“We also have an international soccer travel company where we take players from the USA overseas," McArdle said. "We also bring in many international teams from all over the world — from over 32 countries to here in Central Florida.”

Dr. Raul Pino of the Florida Department of Health-Orange said he believes the risk arising from international tourists coming to Central Florida will be minimal because of certain vaccine requirements.

“Not every vaccine they have is acceptable, and I think that will help us control that factor of the unknown of who is coming in," Pino said.

McArdle said he is excited to welcome back old customers from across the pond but believes it will not happen instantly.

“I think, realistically, it will be summer when we do our international travel packages,” McArdle said. “It’s a six- to nine-month planning process.”

New travel guidelines for international travelers coming to the United States will go into effect Nov. 8, and it is unclear how much planning tourists have done already.

According to Visit Orlando, the Central Florida area saw a 74.6% drop in international tourism from 2019 to 2020, down from about 6.5 million tourists to just more than 1.5 million.