An Orange County task force opened a discussion Wednesday on restarting the local economy with a strategy that would roll out in phases over several weeks.
The measured approach is sparking concern for local businesses.
The roll-out would depend on factors like numbers of COVID-19 cases and deaths and availability of protective gear for health care and other workers who need it most.
Chuck Whittall of Unicorp National Developments Inc., says the vague timeline leaves local businesses in limbo as they face existential decisions about whether they can survive.
“From the day cares to the hair salons to the restaurants, and I don’t care if it’s a small restaurant or a big restaurant. We’ve got some of the biggest restaurants that rent from us. They are all weeks, weeks from going broke. Not months. Weeks from completely being broke.”
The task force plans to meet again next week after getting more concrete guidance from the DeSantis administration, which is holding similar meetings this week.
“The worst thing that can happen is we open too quickly or we open without appropriate sanitation protocols in place, and we find ourselves in just a matter of months seeing a resurgence," Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings says. "And that would be a major debacle at many levels.”
