Orange County leaders are optimistic that the county will reach one of the milestones it set in order to reach phase 3 of the masking and social distancing guidelines.

Seminole County officials are preparing for over capacity crowds on Tuesday when the Board of County Commissioners will vote to end the county's mandatory mask order on June 7.

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings announced that the county is working with the department of health on a plan to phase out the county's mask mandate and social distancing restrictions.

Disney announced Tuesday it will relax its mask policy to allow guests to remove them while taking photos outdoors.

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – After the pandemic forced its cancelation in 2020, the University of Central Florida is planning to bring back a beloved homecoming tradition in 2021: Spirit Splash. UCF said this will be the first time the school has hosted Spirit Splash in the spring. The event typically sees a large portion of the student body run headlong into the pond on the school’s campus in a show of school spirit. The pond is out and the lawn is in for this second homecoming week of the academic year. ⚔️ Double the Homecoming, double the fun 👑For the first time ever, @UCFHC is hosting Spring Splash — the second Homecoming Week in an academic year, giving Knights another chance to have fun, while still upholding COVID safety measures 😷https://t.co/0wn0RYQ6Dc — UCF 😷 (@UCF) February 15, 2021The Spirit Splash will be broken up into two hour-long events on Friday, Feb. 26, according to UCF, with only 650 students allowed at each one.

Whether your children have already begun their school year or you’re still preparing, due to delays, there are many who are choosing to keep their kids home to learn as the coronavirus pandemic rages on. Parents are doing their best to adapt, and we applaud every parent for the decision they’re making -- regardless of what that is. But for those who are keeping kids home for virtual learning, we want to see exactly how you’re adapting. What does the “classroom” you’ve created look like? We’d love to see what kinds of ideas parents have come up with, and we have a feeling other parents might appreciate some good ideas, too.

Police in Singapore have taken an extraordinary step to ensure people are following social distancing rules. In a 3 1/2-month trial, police have used 22-pound pilotless drones, developed by Israel’s Airobotics, as a way to enforce social distancing and contain the spread of COVID-19, according to Reuters. Airobotics CEO Ran Krauss told Reuters the company is simply helping police maintain normal operations, specifically related to COVID-19. “The pandemic created a situation where it might be difficult for police to maintain,” Krauss said. The trial continues on in the social distancing aspect, according to Airobotics, and Krauss said the company is in talks with other cities to deploy drones.

The Gainesville network engineer and 10 relatives had traveled to the Cocoa Beach Pier to watch the launch. “I would rather wait until Saturday for a healthy, safe launch than to bend the rules and launch unsafely." NASA had urged spectators to stay away and watch the launch online or on TV because of the pandemic. People started showing up at dawn to view the launch of the SpaceX Crew Dragon to the International Space Station. About 90 minutes before the scheduled launch time, Gulf Coast resident Olga Cole and her family took refuge beneath the Cocoa Beach Pier during a downpour.

Gatorland Orlando has found a unique way to make sure guests practice social distancing when the park reopens amid the coronavirus pandemic. Park officials say the “Social Distancing Skunk Ape” is the cousin of the elusive Bigfoot and knows all about keeping away from others. The “Social Distancing Skunk Ape” has already appeared in Gatorland’s YouTube show, “Gatorland Vlogs,” and its Facebook show, “School of Croc.”Gatorland says the character will be featured in park videos that encourage guests to stay 6 feet apart and to wash and sanitize their hands. Officials say the “Social Distancing Skunk Ape” will also randomly appear in the park to meet and greet guests when they reopen. To keep up with the latest news on the pandemic, subscribe to News 6′s coronavirus newsletter or go to ClickOrlando.com/coronavirus.

Published: May 5, 2020, 8:21 am Updated: May 6, 2020, 1:52 pmDAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Officials issued around 900 verbal social distancing warnings to people during the first weekend that Volusia County’s beaches, including Daytona Beach, were largely reopened for almost all activities. “For the most part, beachgoers spaced out and kept groups small,” Ray Manchester, Volusia County Beach Safety director, said Monday during a briefing. By and large, the verbal warnings are issued by megaphone to remind people to space out a little more. “When I say we issued warnings,” said Manchester, “What that means is we provided information and education to keep people safe and healthy.”So far, the county isn't allowing vehicles back on the beaches. “Beach driving will eventually be permitted when it’s safe to do so,” said county spokesman Kevin Captain told The Daytona Beach News-Journal.

Researchers say visiting ‘just one friend’ could undo social distancingPublished: April 15, 2020, 3:16 pmResearchers at the University of Washington say visiting just one friend during the coronavirus pandemic could undo the goal of social distancing.

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – Businesses in Brevard County are being asked to help slow the spread of coronavirus by implementing social distancing guidelines in the workplace. The county’s board of commissioners adopted a proclamation under a unanimous vote Monday, requesting businesses to implement the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s social distancing standards as part of everyday business operations. The proclamation suggests businesses should install signage, floor markings or other means necessary to remind customers and employees to practice social distancing. Such measures should be at entry and exit points, checkout points and any staging areas, according to the proclomation. As of Monday afternoon, Brevard County had 140 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus.

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – Seminole County leaders addressed the governor’s new stay-at-home order executive order in a news conference Wednesday. Ron DeSantis’ order with the county-wide social distancing order to see if there is any overlap. [RELATED: Florida governor issues statewide, 30-day stay-at-home order]Seminole County trails are still open under the social distancing order, though playgrounds and basketball courts are closed to prevent crowds. Leaders emphasized that though their order allows small gatherings, people should practice social distancing indoors. Leaders said details about enforcing the county-wide order could change as they learn the specifics regarding the governor’s stay-at-home order, which limits movements and personal interactions outside of one’s home to only essential activities.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Orlando Police Chief Orlando Rolón said on Tuesday his officers have been seeing people out and about while the stay-at-home order is still in effect in Orange County. "What's sad is that someone will always push the limit that enforces our hand and potentially take some sort of enforcement action," Rolón said. The flyers explain in English and in Spanish the Stay-At-Home guidelines and what residents can and cannot do. “The point here is that obviously the City of Orlando is doing an amazing job to try and keep everyone informed. The chief mentioned the executive order is not about arresting people but rather educating the community during this time.

ORLANDO, Fla. – The coronavirus pandemic has become a global conversation, with certain phrases suddenly becoming everyday vocabulary. If you’re standing too close, you can breathe them in. The distance of 3 feet to 6 feet from each other is known as the breathing zone. If someone has the virus, they’re essentially exhaling it into the air you’re breathing. That’s why it’s important to keep out of their breathing zone and avoid people altogether.

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – An executive order enforcing the CDC guidelines to stop the spread of COVID-19 goes into effect tonight in Seminole County. for a Live Chat regarding the Social Distancing Order. The Social Distancing Order goes into effect overnight. She said they have to close after Seminole County leaders signed an executive order on Friday to enforce social distancing. County leaders said they were getting calls from workers in the area that said their businesses were not following the social distance guidelines.

Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield said he’s seen a surge in simultaneously connected users. For reference, Slack defines simultaneously connected users as the number of people who are active on Slack at one time. March 10, the platform hit 10 million simultaneously connected users-- a major milestone as the company hit a million last October. 📈 pic.twitter.com/GPaKF3VgOr — Stewart Butterfield (@stewart) March 26, 2020Butterfield attributes this growth to a massive increase of demand as states like New York, California and Washington issued stay-at-home orders. — Stewart Butterfield (@stewart) March 26, 2020On Monday, 12 million users were using Slack at the same time, which means a lot of people were getting work done.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Florida isn’t doing too shabby with social distancing, at least, according to this scoreboard. Uncast developed a “social distancing scoreboard,” which evaluates how every state is following and implementing social distancing in the battle against COVID-19. The Sunshine State was graded a B for its efforts to keep people away from each other during the coronavirus outbreak. The scores were developed using “human mobility data,” looking at traveled distance for each state, assuming people who are staying home aren’t traveling, and therefore are practicing social distancing. Seminole County jumping in on restrictions with its county-wide social distancing order.

DELTONA, Fla. – With movie theaters shutting down during the coronavirus pandemic, one Central Florida business has a solution for those looking for an entertainment getaway. Epic Theatres West Volusia in Deltona posted on its Facebook page that will open a drive-in theater Friday night so patrons can watch movies from the safety of their cars. The theater said “Onward” will start around 8 p.m. and “The Call of the Wild” will follow at 10:45 p.m. As of Friday morning, there were more than 500 confirmed cases in Florida, resulting in 10 deaths, due to the virus. Epic Theater West Volusia is located at 939 Hollywood Blvd.

Here are some questions and answers about the “social distancing” efforts to slow the epidemic in the U.S.WHAT IS SOCIAL DISTANCING? Social distancing are practices implemented by public health officials to keep contagious diseases from spreading. Officials are simply trying to set a reasonable parameter to “increase social distancing while not creating social isolation,” he said in an interview streamed by the Journal of the American Medical Association. “We're going to see increasing (case) numbers, and that's going to be frustrating to people who are doing social distancing. But that doesn't mean social distancing isn't working,” Weatherhead said.

Chick-fil-A restaurants nationwide will temporarily close its dining rooms in an effort to reduce COVID-19 exposure through social distancing. As we navigate the evolving impact of coronavirus on our communities, we are temporarily closing our dining room seating to help limit person-to-person contact. Some of our restaurants may only offer service through our drive-thrus, while others may be able to offer takeout, delivery or mobile order options. We know these are challenging times, but we’ll continue to do our best to serve you.”Customers can still purchase items by using the restaurants’ drive-throughs, takeout, delivery or mobile order options, according to Chick-fil-A. Taco Bell closed its dining rooms and moved to drive-thru only.