Ivey amends Safer at Home Order
Published 8:08 am Saturday, May 9, 2020
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Gov. Kay Ivey announced on Friday an amended Safer at Home Order to be applied statewide.
The order, which includes an expanded list of items to reopen, will be effective until 5 p.m. on Friday, May 22.
More than 400,000 people are unemployed in the state of Alabama. Ivey cited these numbers in a news conference Friday when she announced the next steps in reopening the Alabama economy. In Chambers County, the initial unemployment claims number totaled nearly 3,000 since the week of March 14, and will likely move the April unemployment rate.
Before outlining the next phase of the reopening plan, Ivey empathized with Alabamians who have suffered job loss during the COVID-19 crisis. “Y’all these are innocent people who’ve lost their jobs, and many of them are folks who are accepting government help for the first time in their lives,” Ivey said.
Here are the updates to the safer, at-home order that will go into effect at 5 p.m. on May 11.
› Non-work gathering removing 10-person limit. They are still required to maintain 6 feet of distance between persons not from the same household.
› Restaurants, bars and breweries may open with limited table seating, 6 feet between tables and subject to additional sanitation rules and guidelines.
› Athletic facilities may open subject to social-distancing and sanitation rules and guidelines. Specified athletic activities are still not allowed.
› Close-contact service providers (such as barbershops, hair salons, nail salons, tattoo services) may open subject to social-distancing and sanitation rules and guidelines.
› Beaches will open with no limit on gatherings, but individuals must maintain 6 feet of separation.
There are still plenty that will remain unchanged for example, retail stores are still subject to 50 percent occupancy and follow social distancing and sanitation rules, entertainment venues such as night clubs, theaters, bowling alleys are to remain closed, senior citizen center activities are still suspended with meals still being provided by curbside pick-up or delivery, educational institutions are still to stay closed and daycare facilities still must not allow 12 or more children in a room.
Hospitals must maintain their policies to restrict visitors.
“Let me be crystal clear to the people of Alabama, the threat of this disease continues to be active, and it is deadly,” Ivey said.
At the time of news conference, there had been 374 deaths in the state of Alabama with Chambers county having 21.