Gulfport, Biloxi, other cities issue COVID-19 curfews and close non-essential businesses
City officials throughout Harrison County announced curfews and other restrictions Tuesday to prevent the spread of coronavirus across the Coast.
The curfews are from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. for everyone but medical workers, emergency responders and a few other exceptions.
A curfew will be enforced in Gulfport beginning at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus, Gulfport Mayor Billy Hewes ordered Tuesday afternoon.
The city of Long Beach adopted the same measures as Gulfport, and the curfew takes effect at the same time Tuesday.
“People need to understand this is not just something a group of mayors got together and decided to do,” Long Beach Mayor George Bass said. “We listened to the CDC and the federal government and we listened to the Health Department to make these decisions.
“We have a virus that is worldwide and it is killing people. We have to understand we are in unique situation on the Coast with New Orleans being so close. That affects us here whereas rural Mississippi may not see as many cases.”
In Biloxi, Mayor Andrew “FoFo” Gilich said a curfew will start just after midnight Thursday at 12:01 a.m.
The D’Iberville city council and Mayor Rusty Quave voted unanimously to begin the curfew Thursday at 12:01 a.m. to give people time to adjust their schedules, said city manager Clay Jones.
Harrison County supervisors will meet on Wednesday.
Bay St. Louis Mayor Mike Favre said he and other leaders in Hancock County are trying to organize a conference call tomorrow with the supervisors and mayors of Diamondhead and Waveland.
“The news of the day is the curfew,” Gilich said in a press release, “but what we are really telling people is to stay home, travel only as necessary.”
He said that on Tuesday morning there was a meeting between 22 Coast leaders including mayors, police chiefs, the Harrison County sheriff and three Biloxi City Council members.
City by city regulations
Gulfport and Long Beach are reducing the among of people who can be inside big box stores at any time to 5% of its standard occupancy. The city also has strict requirements for what businesses must close and stiff penalties for those who don’t follow the requirements.
D’Iberville also is limiting big box stores to 5% of the occupancy set by the city fire department, except for those with pharmacies and groceries. At Lowe’s, where occupancy is 1,971 at any time, will be limited to 98 customers at one time plus the staff. Some of the stores are already limiting the occupancy and Jones said that if the situation calls for it, the city may put some type of limits on how many people can be in a grocery store at one time.
The city also exempts construction sites, wholesale processing and industrial businesses from closing, but requires them to follow the guidelines of 6-foot social distancing and gatherings of 10 or fewer people. D’Iberville is limiting hotels to two adults per room to keep people from out of the area coming in staying in large groups.
Biloxi opted not to put an occupancy limit on Home Depot, the city’s big box store that isn’t a grocery store or pharmacy. Instead the city is asking the store management to continue to practice social distancing.
Biloxi also isn’t asking law firms and engineering firms to close, but is requiring they follow the coronavirus guidelines.
Non-essential businesses ordered to close
The cities are closing nonessential businesses. It follows the decision Tuesday morning by Gov. Tate Reeves to announce a shelter-in-place order for Lauderdale County in east central Mississippi, the first such order from the governor.
“Despite efforts to curb the transmission of disease through the discouraging of group gatherings, hand-washing and social distancing, COVID-19 continues to spread at an alarming rate,” Hewes said in a statement released to the Sun Herald. “Given the latest spike in statistics, it is necessary to take further steps to protect the health, safety and well-being of our citizens, our communities, and our way of life.”
Mississippi reported its first coronavirus case March 11. On Tuesday, the Mississippi Health Department listed 937 cases, with 45 in Harrison County, including one death.
Hewes also noted New Orleans has become an epicenter for the virus.
As of Tuesday, 3,098 of the 5,237 cases reported in Louisiana were in New Orleans, according to the Louisiana State Department of Health.
Hewes said the shelter-in-place order is needed in Gulfport because too many groups, residents and businesses have ignored warnings to stay home and avoid groups of more than 10. They are “continuing to operate as if nothing has changed,” Hewes wrote.
“This selfishness is unfair to those who have been acting in good faith, and has now put our community at risk. It is because of these activities that we are now forced to implement additional measures to protect the public. This is anything, but ‘business as usual.’ “
Which businesses are closing?
Gulfport is closing the following businesses until further notice:
▪ All entertainment and public amusement venues, indoors or outdoors. (This includes locations with amusement rides, carnivals, amusement parks, water parks, trampoline parks, aquariums, zoos, museums, arcades, fairs, pool halls, children’s play centers, playgrounds, theme parks, theaters, concert and music halls, adult entertainment venues, racetracks and other similar businesses.)
▪ All personal care and grooming businesses. (This includes barber shops, beauty salons, nail salons, spas, massage parlors, tattoo parlors, exercise studios, fitness centers and facilities, all gyms and other similar businesses.) Biloxi also is closing these businesses.
▪ Closed businesses can continue essential functions such as payroll, cleaning and maintenance but only if social distancing rules are enforced.
“Local officials take no pleasure in restricting the movements of our public, but it has been shown that the quicker measures are put in place, the faster communities recover, economically,” Hewes said in his statement.
When can residents leave their home?
Hewes’ order, called Safer at Home, also directs residents to limit activities to essential needs.
This means residents should do only the following, he says:
▪ Shop for groceries, and pick up medications and health-care necessities from a pharmacy.
▪ Pick up food curbside or have it delivered from a restaurant.
▪ Care for a friend or family member, including helping them get necessary supplies.
▪ Exercise outdoors, including walking pets, while maintaining a 6-foot distance from others
▪ Receive business deliveries.
He cautions residents against going to work at any nonessential business defined in the order, visiting family or friends without a pressing reason, or visiting hospitals, nursing homes or other residential care facilities except under limited circumstances outlined on facility websites.
What is an essential business?
Retail outlets, plasma centers, home improvement stores and any other businesses in Gulfport or Biloxi not on the closed list must limit customers to 5% of permitted occupancy, excluding employees.
Restaurants are allowed to serve meals only through deliver or curbside pickup.
In Biloxi and Gulfport, hotels and other public lodging establishment are limited to room occupancy that does not exceed bed capacity. For example, a room with two beds can house only two people.
Early learning and child-care centers can operate if they are following Mississippi Department of Education and health department guidelines.
Any other business not ordered to temporarily close must operate with minimum public contact and essential employees only, following social distancing and 10-person limit rules.
Employees of essential businesses also include mental health and social services, farming, utilities, critical manufacturing (medical supply chains, energy, transportation, food and chemicals); petroleum, natural gas and propane; transportation and logistics; communications and information technology; financial services and banking.
Punishment includes $300 fine or jail time
Those who ignore the local orders are subject to a fine of up to $300 and/or up to six months in jail, with citations to be issued by city police officers. First offenses will apply to business managers or supervisors on the premises. Second offenses will also apply to patrons.
The city’s department directors are authorized to issue warning notices to operations violating density and social-distancing restrictions. The mayor says any establishment issued a warning will be subject to a post on the city of Gulfport Facebook page.
The Gulfport mayor’s statement further says:
“The economic impacts already being felt are alarming, but if we don’t take additional steps to protect the health of our community, what we are encountering today is only the tip of the iceberg.
“We can choose to endure four-six weeks of debilitating hardship, or six-eight months of devastating quarantine. Based upon trends around the country, matters are likely to get worse, before they get better. While this ‘inconvenience’ has cramped our style, the sad fact is, it’s likely to start killing our friends and neighbors. It’s that serious.”
Reporters Margaret Baker and Mary Perez contributed to this article.
This story was originally published March 31, 2020 at 1:21 PM.
