Local Officials Set Tighter Restrictions as Worldwide COVID-19 Cases Tops 1M

Written by on April 2, 2020

Local government officials are setting tighter restrictions in response to the spread of COVID-19.

The City of Springhill Police Chief Will Lynd announced today that he will be enforcing occupancy restrictions for local stores. “Due to the Corona Virus and drastic spread of the virus, I am issuing an order that no store is allowed to have more than ten people in the store at any time with the exception of five stores,” Lynd said in a statement. “Those five stores are Piggly Wiggly, Brookshire’s, Walmart, Dollar General, and Dollar Tree.”

Although these stores are excluded from the 10-person rule, they still have restrictions. The statement goes on to say that Walmart, Piggly Wiggly, and Brookshire’s can have no more than 25 customers at a time. Dollar Tree and Dollar General will be limited to 15 customers at a time. In addition, the statement says that only one person from a family will be allowed in the store to shop at a time.

“I will be sending officers around during operational hours to see that this mandate is being followed and if not the manager of the store will be issued a citation under 14:329.6,” the statement said. “This citation can result in a fine of up to five hundred dollars and/or six months in jail.” This order from the police chief will be effective at the open of business on April 3, 2020 and will remain active until cancelled by the chief.

A little further from home, Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins has placed further restrictions on restaurant operations after declaring a state of emergency for the City of Shreveport today.

Effective at 6 p.m. this evening, April 2, 2020, and lasting through 6 a.m. on May 2, 2020, patrons will not be able to enter an establishment to pick up food. Food will have to be delivered to the person’s vehicle or will have to be picked up through a drive-thru. Customers will not be allowed to exit their vehicle while on the premises.

Both of these directives come after new numbers were released from the Louisiana Department of Health at noon today. Confirmed COVID-19 cases in Louisiana jumped by nearly 3,000 from 6,424 to 9,150 in the last 24 hours. Deaths increased by 37 from 273 to 310. At the parish level, Webster Parish has 19 confirmed cases, with 2 deaths; Bossier Parish has 87 confirmed cases, with 2 deaths; and Caddo Parish has 336 confirmed cases with 10 deaths.

World-wide confirmed cases topped 1,000,000 (1 million) today, while United States cases are still rising fast at just over 236,000.

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