June Tourist Development Tax numbers for Orange County are in and they’re strong.
Comptroller Phil Diamond says over 21 million dollars in taxes was collected, the highest number since the beginning of the pandemic.
Diamond says that’s still below 2019 levels, but about the same as 2017. But he warns this might not be the case moving forward with rising coronavirus cases.
“The month of July and August. And as you all heard this morning. We’re clearly not out of the woods yet as we see cases increase in Orange County. Currently, Florida leads the nation in coronavirus infections and in Orange County our positivity rates and new cases have been at all time highs.”
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Diamond says the one thing that might salvage those TDT numbers? If more residents get vaccinated.
“This doesn’t bode well for our longer term outlook. However, the county’s efforts to increase vaccinations and reinstitute safety precautions are critically important to ensure not only our public safety but the health of our economy.”
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Disney has required all of its non-union employees to get the COVID-19 shot while all the major Orlando theme parks now enforce the wearing of face masks indoors.
Orange County announced a new COVID-19 testing site will open Tuesday at Clarcona Elementary School. A new vaccination site will open at Camping World Stadium.
