Takeaways from Orange Co. COVID News Conference - assistance ended, OCPS quarantining, Strike Teams and more

OCPS is now using the 10-day criteria for quarantining timeframes, which was reduced from the 14-day as recommended by the Florida Department of Health

From the Orange County Newsroom

Orange County's COVID-19 News Conference reported Thursday that first responders are being trained in administering the vaccine, Strike Teams continue to visit businesses, OCPS expects 20,000 students to enter face-to-face learning in January, and where to get free testing. In addition, it was announced that both the Eviction Diversion program and CARES Act financial assistance programs are both now closed, though work is still being done on applications already submitted.

Here are the details on each of these highlights:

VACCINE TRAINING EMERGENCY RESPONDERS

Over the past two days, The Department of Health in Orange County have trained and certified roughly 50 paramedics to administer the COVID-19 vaccine if needed.

This includes a large group from Orange County Fire Rescue, as well as representatives from each local fire department in the County.

STRIKE TEAMS – Business Compliance

Orange County’s Strike Teams continue to inspect businesses and educate them about keeping patrons and employees safe. The teams have been in operation for 110 days. Since December 8, 2020, the teams have issued 24 warnings and 7 citations and have visited nearly 6,000 locations with a 98% compliance rate.

For more information, visit the County’s business resource page.

ORANGE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS UPDATE

Orange County Public Schools (OCPS) will have a COVID-19 notification link on its homepage at ocps.net to report any student or staff with a positive case over the winter break. Those reports will help the school system navigate a safe return for the second semester.

In regard to changing quarantine timeframes, Orange County Public Schools (OCPS) is now using the 10-day criteria, which was reduced from the 14-day as recommended by the Florida Department of Health.

In January, OCPS expects 20,000 students returning face-to-face for second semester.

OCPS Superintendent Dr. Barbara Jenkins stressed if any individual has symptoms of, or exposed to or if they test positive for COVID-19 over the break, they need to stay home until cleared to return.

TESTING

For Orange County Health Services testing at Barnett Park, residents should try to be in the waiting line as early as possible as the line has been closing earlier to the overwhelming response for testing. The testing site operates daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Barnett Park will close on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. .

For more information visit, ocfl.net/testing.

PPE EFFORTS

Assisted living facilities contain some of Orange County’s most vulnerable residents. Since day one of the pandemic, Orange County Government has made it a priority to ensure local assisted living facilities have the PPE they need to protect their residents and staff.

Orange County has delivered critical personal protective equipment to 175 assisted living and long-term care facilities in the County since March. That includes approximately 6.3 million PPE items, including N-95 masks, procedural masks, gowns, gloves and hand sanitizer.

In addition, Orange County provides free PPE to anyone tested at the Orange County Health Services test site at Barnett Park – open 7 days a week.

Visit ocfl.net/PPE to learn about the County’s PPE distribution efforts.

Programs that have closed

EVICTION DIVERSION

The program closed to new applicants on Wednesday, December 16, 2020. So far, nearly 2,400 families have been able to stay in their homes.

Orange County Government in partnership with the Orange County Bar Association, Community Legal Services of Mid-Florida and other local legal assistance nonprofit agencies has dispersed over $7.5 million dollars in assistance with an average payment of $3,149 for past rent (up to 3 months).

ORANGE COUNTY CARES FOR FAMILIES

Our Orange CARES for Residents program, which provides $1,000 grants to those impacted by COVID-19, is now closed for good.

For individuals and families who have applications approved, please allow up to 30 days to process the applications. More than $55 million in checks are in the mail or are in process through the Orange County Comptroller’s Office.

The County expects to spend the total CARES funding, $243.5 million dollars by the end of December 2020 supporting families, businesses, and nonprofits in the community.

In addition to the CARES funding, Orange County allocated $1.8 million dollars from the General Fund to support families.