Osceola to debut COVID-19 business compliance task force.
Osceola to debut COVID-19 business compliance task force
Osceola County will begin sending enforcement teams to local businesses in an effort to ensure compliance with county and federal guidelines aimed at mitigating the spread of COVID19, officials announced Thursday.
The COVID-19 Education and Compliance Taskforce — made up of code enforcers and building and fire inspectors — will have a “soft opening” next week before visiting businesses more aggressively the following week, said county commission Chairwoman Viviana Janer.
“It’s just to get the feet wet and see what method works best with businesses,” Janer said. “... We want our businesses to succeed, it’s very important for our economy to get back up and running. But we want everybody to realize that the best way to do that is keeping everybody as safe as possible.”
The task force won’t be penalizing non-compliant businesses, but instead will provide information on following guidelines and county business grants. Janer said customers who enter non-compliant businesses “may want to reconsider if you want to patronize that facility.”
Orange County created simi
lar compliance teams over the summer and have visited thousands of businesses. On Saturday, 11 bars near UCF and in downtown Orlando were found to be violating social distancing and mask-wearing guidelines, Mayor Jerry Demings said.
Osceola County has been one of the hardest hit areas in Central Florida as cases of COVID-19 spike around the country. According to state health data, the county has an 8.8% positive test rate over the last two weeks. The county reported 220 new cases on Wednesday, with a 9.8% rate of positivity.
“This is something to be very, very alarmed by that the cases have increased at such a rapid pace at a point where we thought we would pretty much have this under control,” Janer said. “We’ll continue to monitor this and we’ll continue to keep the public informed so that they know what’s going on here in the county.”
The county currently has a mandatory mask ordinance in effect, but Gov. Ron DeSantis nullified enforcement measures across the state, including issuing fines, after announcing Phase 3 of the state’s plan to reopen businesses in September.
As of October, counties and cities issued nearly $2 million in fines resulting from local restrictions, most of which were from South Florida and none from metro Orlando, according to reports provided to the governor.
Janer didn’t provide an update Thursday on the millions of dollars that have yet to be issued to the county from the CARES Act, a federal stimulus package passed this year to financially assist individuals, businesses and governments during the pandemic.
Some county governments in Central Florida, including Osceola, have been using the funds to issue grants to residents and businesses struggling to pay bills.
Despite having the highest unemployment rate in the state, partly due to a collapsed tourism industry, officials said last week that the county had only received 45% of the $65 million it was promised, despite a looming deadline to spend the money.