This regular bi-weekly COVID-19 operational update is for the fourteen days from Thursday December 31 through Wednesday January 13.
Over the past two weeks, new COVID-19 infections have risen substantially in Brevard County, with new case counts growing to an average of 282 per day.
The City’s requirement for employees and members of the public to mask while inside our municipal facilities remains in place. Hand sanitizer stations have been conveniently located just inside the entry doors of our municipal buildings so as to seek to maximize their use as soon as people enter.
In accordance with the authority granted the City Manager in Section 11 of the West Melbourne Emergency Masking Ordinance No. 2020-05, I have administratively extended the City Council’s Emergency Masking Ordinance for employees and customers in our largest ‘essential businesses’ to mask while in publicly accessible areas of these stores to midnight on Monday January 18. Tomorrow, I will be extending the requirement another week to Monday January 25.
These one week at a time extensions are allowed because Governor DeSantis has extended the COVID-19 State of Emergency in Florida through February 27, 2021; otherwise by its own terms, the ordinance sunsets. The Governor’s most recent extension of the COVID-19 State of Emergency in Florida was via Executive Order Number 20-316.
As required by the emergency ordinance, each time I have administratively extended for one week the sunset date of the ordinance, this determination has been filed with the City Clerk and posted on the City’s web site. Each time the sunset date has been extended, this information has also been directly provided to the identified ‘essential businesses’ by members of the City’s Police Department.
We have had a fair number of employees return to work after recovering from being infected by the COVID-19 virus; currently, the City has a small number of employees off work who have either tested positive for COVID-19, or else who have been closely exposed to a positive person and have not yet reached the end of their quarantine period.
For persons over 65 years of age, no cost COVID-19 vaccinations began being provided in Viera through the State of Florida Health Department in Brevard County starting on Monday January 4. These vaccinations require an advance on-line appointment. The appointment list is currently full, with no new reservations currently being taken. It is possible that a new window for appointments starting next week will open before this week is out, depending upon how many vaccines might be scheduled to be delivered next week to the State Health Department in Viera.
It will continue to be several weeks before there will be vaccines available for the general population. While we wait, we are advised to continue to avoid crowds, socially distance, frequently hand wash, and consistently wear our face coverings outside our immediate homes.