As of 12:30 p.m. today, March 16, 2020, several recommendations and orders have been issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the State of Michigan, and Kent County related to gatherings and business operations in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kent County Health Department Director Dr. Adam London has issued the following statement in light:
The Kent County Health Department Emergency Order, issued on Sunday, March 15, 2020, reducing occupany loads - or limits - for all licensed food service establishments, entertainment venues, and physical fitness centers in Kenty County have been reduced by 50 percent, went into effect today at 10 a.m. (Please check the Kent County Health Department COVID-19 page for a link to the full text of the Order.)
Further, Governer Gretchen Whitmer announced she will issue an order due to take effect at 3:00pm today temporarily shutting down restaurants, cafes, coffee houses, bars, taverns, brewpubs, distilleries, clubs, movie theatres, indoor and outdoor performance venues, gymnasiums, fitness centers, recreations centers, indoor sports facilities, indoor exercise facilities, exercise studios, spas, and casinos. This order does not restrict a place of business from offering food and beverage using delivery service, window service, walk-up service, drive-through service, or drive-up service. Restaurants may allow five people inside at a time to pick-up orders, so long as they stay six feet apart from each other. This order remains in effect until 11:59 p.m. on March 30, 2020.
The Governor's March 10 executive order prohibiting assemblages of more than 250 people still stands.
Additionally, the CDC issued new guidelines last night advising against gathers of 50 people or more for the next eight weeks. The Kent County Health Department supports the CDC in this recommendation and encourages individuals to minimize the size of public gatherings.
We want to emphasize this is a fluid situation. Recommendations are changing at the national and state level hour-by-hour. We are closely monitoring the situation and will continue to regularly communicate with the residents of Kent County as we work to stop the spread of the virus.
Please continue to check the Kent County Health Department COVID-19 page for the latest updates: https://www.accesskent.com/Health/coronavirus.htm.
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