ORLANDO, Fla. — In a continued loosening of coronavirus restrictions within its boundaries, Orange County this week disbanded its strike teams that investigated businesses on COVID-19 safety protocols.

As a reason, Mayor Jerry Demings on Friday cited a 99% compliance rate among businesses after 11,012 strike team inspections of 6,742 businesses over 214 days.

“That was a goal from the very beginning for us,” he said.

Demings made his comments at an event that honored more than 50 strike team members and related workers from various county and partner units, including its legal department, fire marshal’s office and the Florida Department of Health in Orange County.

He told reporters that his decision “really had little to do with the fact that the governor removed the opportunity for local governments to have related executive orders.”

Demings referred to action from Gov. Ron DeSantis, who on Monday issued an executive order that suspended all local executive orders regarding COVID-19. DeSantis also signed a bill, effective July 1, that will allow the state to override local emergency orders.

The mayor’s decision comes amid COVID-19 data that shows an improved county recovery rate of 97% but 13 coronavirus-related deaths from Monday through Thursday, including an 18-year-old who had underlying health issues, officials said.

Demings’ move follows his announcement on April 28 of a new face-covering executive order that reduced physical-distance requirements from 6 feet to 3 feet in all settings and established guidelines for when the county would remove all mask-wearing and social-distancing requirements.

Demings established the business-compliance strike-team initiative in July, and team members began to make unannounced visits to businesses including bars and nightclubs to check on compliance of coronavirus safety guidelines.

He eventually gave them the authority to fine businesses that repeatedly failed to comply. The mayor's initiative drew passionate reaction, particularly on social media, from those who saw it as prudent measure to protect Orange County residents to those who saw it as an overstepping disruption to county businesses.

But DeSantis in March signed an executive order that remitted any COVID-related fines imposed on people or businesses between March 1, 2020 and March 10, 2021 by “any political subdivision of Florida.”

Friday’s ceremony at the Orange County Administration Building hailed the strike team participants before a standing-room-only crowd that included distancing measures. Some strike team members spoke about their contributions and experiences, to applause from colleagues.

“Your collective efforts paid off for this entire community,” Demings told audience members.