AUBURN, Ala. (EETV) - Alabama will begin a Stay at Home order Saturday, Governor Ivey announced Friday afternoon.
The order begins at 5 p.m. Saturday and lasts until Thursday, April 30 at 5 p.m. The state will determine before April 30 if the order needs to be extended.
Essential businesses, such as grocery stores, will remain open but must follow additional rules beginning Saturday at 5 p.m. Those businesses must cut their occupancy rate to 50 percent of the normal occupancy. Employees must not knowingly allow for customers to be within six feet of eachother. And, the businesses must continue to comply with sanitation guidelines set forth by the Centers for Disease Control and the Alabama Department of Public Health.
Alabamians are to only leave their homes for a select list of reasons. Those include:
- Obtaining necessary supplies such as food, gas and medication
- Obtaining or providing necessary services such as medical care, car repair or services related to distance learning and education.
- Attending religious services. Services including worship, a wedding or a funeral are permitted if the event is fewer than 10 people and those peopls maintain a 6-foot distance from one another or if the event is a "drive-in" service where participants remain in their vehicles.
- Taking care of others, including family, friends, pets or donating blood.
- Working at essential businesses.
- Engaging in outdoor activities that involve fewer than 10 people and maintain a 6-foot distance from others.
- Seeking shelter.
- Traveling as required by law. This includes transporting children as required by a custody agreement.
- Seeing family members at their residences.
The news comes as Alabama now has over 1,400 cases of COVID-19 and over 20 deaths. Nearly 10,000 people in the state have been tested for the virus.
