Tuesday, St. Joseph citizens will head indoors, at least for a little more than a week.
Saturday evening, the City of St. Joseph issued a declaration of a local state of emergency and “strongly encouraged” people to remain in their residences and avoid “public places except when necessary to obtain food, supplies and medical treatment.”
The declaration goes into effect at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, March 24, and continues until 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, April 2, 2020.
In wake of the declaration, the city said its call center would open on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. That number is 816-271-4613.
Essential businesses are allowed to remain open, and the order explicitly defines them. The full language is as follows:
Effective at 12:01am on Tuesday, March 24, 2020, and continuing until 11:59pm on Thursday, April 2, 2020, unless otherwise amended, withdrawn, or terminated, an amended declaration of a local state of emergency will enforce the following:
That, to the maximum extent possible, citizens of the City of St. Joseph, Missouri, are strongly encouraged to shelter in place, by remaining in their respective residences, avoiding contact with people with whom they do not reside, and avoiding public places except when necessary to obtain food, supplies, and medical treatment.
- Businesses which are non-essential shall be prohibited from operating. Non-essential business are those that do not fall under the definition of essential as indicated below.
- Essential businesses, as defined below, shall make reasonable efforts to require people to remain separated by physical space of at least six feet.
- Travel may occur only for the purpose of attending work at an essential business, obtaining necessary food (including from restaurants), medicine, supplies, or pet supplies. Travel in the course of participating in outdoor recreational activities may also occur.
- When in public, or when participating in outdoor recreational activities, people shall make reasonable efforts to be separated by physical space of at least six feet.
- No business or person shall provide services that require contact between a person providing the service and the customer unless the service is for necessary medical treatment that has been ordered by a physician. Such services that shall not be provided include, but are not limited to, hair salon services, nail salon services, tattooing, and massage services.
Existing restrictions of the Declaration and Order remain effective.
Due to the changes being implemented, the city’s call center will be open Sunday, March 22, from 10am-7pm to answer any questions the public may have. The call center number is 816.271.4613.
Essential businesses
For the purposes of this Second Amended Declaration and Order, the term “Essential Businesses” shall mean businesses or organizations which are providing any of the following as a substantial element of their daily operations:
- Healthcare and public health services and supply distribution (for human or animal care);
- Law enforcement, public safety, first responder, emergency dispatch, and security;
- Agriculture and food creation, transportation, distribution, and retail sales (for humanor animal consumption);
- Restaurant and prepared food distribution (for allowed distribution methods);
- Energy, electricity, petroleum, natural gas and propane acquisition, extractions,production, generation, processing, storage, distribution, and retail distribution;
- Water and wastewater processing, treatment, conveyance, and distribution;
- Logistics and transportation of goods and people, repair of transportation systems andinfrastructure, transportation dispatch, packaging material manufacturing, shipping,air and rail transportation, and support services;
- Public infrastructure support and maintenance;
- Communications infrastructure support and maintenance;
- Information technology development, management, support, and security;
- Education (including childcare) and governmental operations;
- Critical community assistance and preparedness services;
- Manufacturing of necessary consumables and their components;
- Chemical and hazardous materials handling and cleanup;
- Critical financial services;
- Military operations;
- Home repair of critical utilities and facilities;
- Support for the foregoing services; and
- Functions that the Director of Health deems, in writing, to be essential services.
Notwithstanding the aforementioned designated services, the list of Essential Businesses maybe modified by a subsequent declaration and order.
