Daytona Beach, FL - Sheriff Mike Chitwood spoke with The Morning Hog on WNDB's sister station, 95.7 The Hog, and offered his thoughts on reopening Volusia County.
As expected, it'll be a process with some minor challenges. According to Chitwood, one of those challenges will be the enforcement of CDC guidelines regarding COVID-19. Because, while the county may reopen soon, there will still be social distancing guidelines in effect and certain rules may still apply at some establishments. With that, some may expect other residents or visitors to not follow the rules as closely.
But the problem lies beyond that too, because, according to Chitwood, they need to figure out who will enforce those rules.
"If they decide to open up restaurants and if they're going to limit capacity or make people wear masks, I think that's more of a health department issue," said Chitwood. "(It's better than) making deputies run around doing headcounts and checking on who is wearing a face mask."
Stray rulebreakers aside, Chitwood seemed very confident that the county's residents will do well after Volusia finishes reopening. While there has been minor discourse online with some residents and visitors making complaints on social media, Chitwood feels that a majority of people in Volusia County have an understanding of what's going on and why they're doing it.
"80% to 85% of the folks understand what needs to be done," said Chitwood. "They may not like it, but they're going to follow suit. Then you have the 10% and 15% that no matter what you do they're just going to try and muck up the works."
There's already been a small share of people who seem to have either taken light of the rules or completely disregarded them in the first place. One woman was arrested at a Holly Hill Walmart Neighborhood Market after she spit in two fruit bins in the produce section. When she was interviewed by law enforcement, an officer reported that she said she didn't know why she did it, said she didn't have COVID-19 and made small laughs during her interview. She was charged with criminal mischief and later charged with illegal immigration.
And another specific problem mentioned by Sheriff Chitwood was the availability of information. According to Chitwood, he feels that the county should be funnelling any pertinent information regarding COVID-19 to residents in Volusia County. But, he feels that the county has already hit a snag when it comes to information delivery.
"If this is truly a war on this virus, why the hell are we having a war getting the proper and correct information to the community and first responders?"
You can find audio files of Chitwood's interview with the Morning Hog at 957TheHog.com.
