In addition to our normal news coverage, What Now Atlanta is tracking ways Atlanta’s businesses are adapting to the novel coronavirus and the challenges it brings to brick-and-mortars.
Fulton County on April 1 enacted a stay-at-home order effective immediately in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Essential businesses and services, including restaurants offering takeout and delivery, are allowed to remain in operation and citizens can leave their residences only to “provide, receive, or engage in essential services or activities,” or face up to a $1,000 fine or 12 months in jail.
“It is my hope that this Administrative Order enhances our efforts to keep Fulton County residents safe, and assists in flattening the COVID-19 curve,” Dr. S. Elizabeth Ford, interim district health director of the Fulton County Board of Health, said in a prepared statement.
The order also prohibits all public and private gatherings of any number of people “occurring outside a single household or living unit, except for the limited purposes as expressly permitted herein.”
Read the order in its entirety here.
City of Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms issued a similar order last month that is already in effect until at least April 7.
There were no stated penalties, however, for violating the order.
[Editor’s note: The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is rapidly evolving as is its effect on Atlanta, and the City’s businesses and its residents. Click here for What Now Atlanta’s ongoing coverage of the crisis. For guidance and updates on the pandemic, please visit the C.D.C. website.]
