Orange County strike teams report 9 COVID citations for businesses
Strike teams visiting local businesses
It is almost time to ring in the new year but Orange County wants to remind businesses that coronavirus compliance is still necessary.
ORLANDO, Fla. - Dropping in by request, the Orange County strike team visited a handful of establishments to offer their professional advice for keeping COVID compliant.
County officials said the two problems they run into most during their inspections are lack of sanitizer and signs requiring face masks.
Since early December when Orange County announced they would impose fines on businesses that failed to comply with COVID-19 safety protocols, the strike team has issued nine citations and 41 warnings.
The businesses cited include In & Out, Country House restaurant, Napoli Pizza & Sub Inc., Hong Fu restaurant, USA Smoke Shop, Universal Hyundai, Celine restaurant, The Social, and Maryland Fried Chicken. Those businesses are facing fines starting at $300. Officials said they have the right to contest them in court.
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"Ninety-eight percent of the businesses out there are complying with a lot of these requirements," said Tin Boldig, the deputy director for planning, environmental, and development services.
Out of the more than 6,000 businesses the strike team has visited since July, it’s the repeat offenders that keep them busy. Nearly 300 businesses have required repeat visits of three to seven times for failure to comply. Those include restaurants, bars, retail stores, personal services, gas stations, gyms, and car dealerships.
"That two percent is the one that we continue to want to keep encouraging to comply with the guidelines," Boldig said.
County officials said they’re hoping the majority of businesses will continue to comply into the New Year.
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