Special outdoor dining at Orange County restaurants requires permit when reopening, mayor says

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Many restaurants are relying on using outdoor seating starting Monday when they are begin reopening, since there is no limit to how many people they can have.

However, Mayor Jerry Demings said the businesses still need a permit to do have outdoor seating beyond what they already have such as patios – and given that many are just now realizing that, it’s going to be tough to do that by Monday.

The Orange County Task Force is recommending the county build a website that for customers to check for certain restaurants before they go there to eat.

“It becomes sort of like a hall of fame or wall of fame, if you will, where businesses register and consumers can come and see if their favorite businesses is there,” said Eveyln Cardenas, CEO of Central Florida Auto Dealers Association and member of the Task Force on Economic Recovery. “Once their business is there, they can be confident that they can go to that business and their family is going to be safe and they’re going to be safe."

Read: Orange County mayor send letter to governor urging him to allow salons, barbershops to reopen

The number of COVID-19 cases in Orange County continues to decline, with a 5.4% positive rate, down from Wednesday.

Mayor Jerry Demings said Friday that 77% of all people who have had COVID-19 here have full recovered from it, meaning about 325 people still have the virus and remain contagious.

At least one new death – a 70-year-old man with underlying health issues – was reported.

Of the more than 2,200 people tested, 19 were positive, less than what health officials said they expected to see.

Read: Looking ahead: What Phase 2, 3 could look like when reopening

There will not be mobile testing in Orange County next week, as the Health Department takes time to do research and sanitize the mobile unit.

The county has announced it has purchased $1 million disposable masks and 200,000 bottles of hand sanitizer through funding from the CARES Act, and plans to distribute those to small businesses.

VIDEO: Orlando restaurants make plans for Phase I reopening WFTV's Shannon Butler reports.

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