Volusia County Government Kicked-off Their Daily Briefings Today.

Written by Kristen Schmutz

Belden Communications News

Volusia County Government kicked-off their daily briefing this afternoon, from the Emergency Operation Center in Daytona Beach.

Kevin Captain, Interim Director of Community Information, confirmed the slated start date of the antibody testing to be done at the Hester building at the Volusia County Fairgrounds for May 4, 2020. This new testing site is to be run by Family Health Source in conjunction with the other three testing sites in Deltona, DeLand, and Daytona Beach. The Jenna Medical Center in Orange City is currently providing Antibody Testing.

The county has provided Phase One of the re-opening of the beaches this past weekend, and county officials plan to continue to make and finalize plans for Phase Two with information guided by Information and statistics provided by medical teams and the Department of Health.

The burn ban is still in effect, at this time.

Currently, the cases in the County have reached 440 cases with 17 deaths, according to Patricia Boswell, director of the Health Department in Volusia County. 50 of the reported cases are at Long-term Care Facilities. “The majority of new cases in the County are from outbreaks at long-term care facilities,” said Boswell. Florida State Department of Corrections has more information regarding the outbreak at Tomoka State Prison, on their website.

As always, County Staff and their partners at Advent and Halifax Health, like Dr. Joe Smith from AdventHealth – DeLand, want to remind the community the best way to stop the spread of the virus is by washing your hands frequently. The hospitals are also informing residents that “if you are experiencing a medical emergency, the hospitals are safe, and can treat you.”

“The Governor’s Stay-at-Home Order is set to expire Thursday, April 30,” said County Chair Ed Kelly, as he reiterated the message of frequent hand washing. The Governor and his Task Force are finalizing plans for reopening the State, while county staff works with the cities for our reopening.

More information on the phases of reopening the county will be discussed Wednesday at the next briefing. There is no briefing scheduled for Tuesday, as there is a Special County Council Meeting Scheduled for tomorrow at 10 a.m., to discuss the County’s COVID-19 Update.