Orange County leaders say they don’t think proposed travel restrictions to Florida are really necessary at this point.
County Mayor Jerry Demings says the vaccine is rolling out significantly across the country and almost all the metropolitan areas in the US are seeing significant declines in cases.
“We have proven that with the domestic travel here and even the international travel that the protocols that we have in place have been fairly successful.”
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City Mayor Buddy Dyer says the area is headed in the right direction and has taken the right precautions. He says people can decide on their own whether it’s safe to travel.
“People can make their own choice about whether they’re going to travel in the same fashion they can make their own choice about whether they’re going to wear a mask or stay home or do the other pandemic precautions that we have been talking about for the last year.”
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Greater Orlando Aviation Authority CEO Phil Brown says he doesn’t support a proposed travel ban on Florida. But Brown says he’s more concerned about possible required COVID-19 testing for domestic flights similar to what’s in place for international arrivals.
He says this testing would increase the amount of tests needed by 42 percent.
“I think the other issue that we see is you’ve got vaccines rolling out and at this point I’m not sure the efficacy of domestic testing when you’re trying to get resources out and get vaccines distributed through all parts of the country.”
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A federal official says the White House is considering domestic travel restrictions and a required coronavirus testing program for domestic flights in order to flatten the curve.
Florida has some of the highest counts of the UK COVID variant in the country.
