Mayor Demings: Plan in place should tourists test positive for coronavirus

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. - Tourists up and down International Drive have been keeping track of updates on the coronavirus, but have been going about their vacations.  

Debra Phillips and her family were heading back over the pond to Wales late Tuesday.

“A little bit of relief at this point to go back,” Phillips said.  

That’s because she says she and her husband wouldn’t have known what to do if one of them were to get sick with coronavirus.

“Because back home, our medical and doctors are all free. Of course, we have insurance, but we wouldn’t know where to start really,” she said.

Health officials say there have not been any confirmed cases of coronavirus in Orange County.  

Mayor Jerry Demings says he knows it’s only a matter of time.  

Whether you live here, or just visiting, Mayor Demings says the county is prepared.

“If they’re discovered and they’re at a hotel, or if they’re at home here in this community, they will likely be isolated where they are. We have the ability to dispatch the resources to the individual whether that’s first responders, paramedics, EMS personnel or public health nurses,” Mayor Demings told FOX 35 News.

While coronavirus has been on Phillips’ mind, she hasn’t let it ruin her family’s vacation.  

She believes the theme parks and restaurants they’ve been to are taking the proper precautions.  

“I found more so as the days go on, we’re on our 15th day here. And, between each ride, they are washing down each row,” Phillps said.

Mayor Demings said that Orange County is open for business, noting the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill and an AAU volleyball tournament with 40,000 attendees at the convention center both went off without a hitch this past weekend.