ORLANDO, Fla. — Orange County is no longer under a COVID state of emergency. Mayor Jerry Demings announced he was rescinding his local emergency order during a news conference Wednesday.

Demings said the COVID-19 positivity rate had been below 5% for 17 consecutive days in the county. 

Rescinding the local emergency order means it's now up to businesses to decide "how they want to keep patrons and workers safe," Demings said.

County employees will still be required to where face coverings when indoors. However, the end of the state of emergency also means county employees who have not been vaccinated for COVID-19 no longer have to get weekly tests.

"For our employees here within Orange County, we still have to serve the community and we have to do so knowing that the virus is still in our community," Demings said. "People are still contracting the disease, our employees are still contracting the disease."

Demings also said he reserved the right to put the executive order back in place should the numbers go back up. 

According to the Florida Dept. of Health in Orange County, 34 new fatalities related to COVID-19 were reported to the agency since Oct. 21. The agency says 2,178 people have died of COVID-19 in Orange County since the start of the pandemic.

The decision to lift the executive order is likely to have an effect on whether Orange County Public Schools allows its mask policy to expire on Thursday. That decision is up to superintendent Dr. Barbara Jenkins. 

Some parents rallied at the school board on Tuesday to ask the policy be extended, but the issue was not on the board's agenda. 

Demings said his decision to lift the executive order was not intended to send mixed messages to the school district. He pointed out that the federal government was close to deciding whether to allow a COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5 to 11, and pointed out that should that pass, that would be the best news for the school district.

"I believe the solution to significantly reducing the potential spread of the virus in our community rests with our ability to get more people vaccinated. That's what the science says," Demings said.

To that end, Demings again pushed the county's mobile vaccine events, and its vaccine site at Barnett Park.

More information on how to get a vaccine in Central Florida is available in Spectrum News 13's COVID-19 section.

Businesses revisiting COVID-19 practices

The owner of High Tide Harry’s, Brennan Heretick, says business has been tough lately, and this announcement couldn’t have come at a better time.

He also says it’s important to him to do his part to keep up customer confidence, which is what the mayor is asking from businesses.

It’s a big move, and for him, it’s symbolic.

“I think it’s nice to finally see that we’re getting on the other side of this, and that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and that business is going to come back and everything is going to be OK," said Heretick.

No state of emergency means another opportunity for businesses like his to reevaluate their COVID-19 practices.

“To be able to run your business the way that you want to be able to run it is very important, I think. But, again, big responsibility as an owner to be able to make the calls, make the right decisions, not only for us, but for our team members as well," he said.

For now, Heretick plans to continue to have employees wear masks, aiming to keep customers comfortable and keep everyone safe.

He wants this to continue being a safe space, because, after all, to him, it’s home.

“Since I was, I guess, old enough to work, 16. But I’ve been in here since I was 4. So if I don’t know what to do by now, I’m in big trouble," laughed Heretick.