LAFAYETTE, La (press release) – “In Lafayette Parish, we announced the enactment of a ‘Safe Shop’ policy for the category of businesses that falls in the middle – neither expressly deemed essential nor expressly prohibited. Under the Governor’s existing orders, these ‘gray area’ businesses can operate as long as they limit the number of persons with access to their facilities and practice social distancing.
Effective Midnight tonight (4/16), we are authorizing these businesses to be open and to operate subject to the following conditions:
- Employees must wear masks
- Employees may not work if they have a fever or symptoms
- Customers must maintain a minimum of 6 feet of separation when shopping or standing in line
- Maximum of 25% occupancy, as determined by code and the Certificate of Occupancy issued by the Fire Marshal
- No congregating or groups loitering in or near businesses
- Customers who have fever or are symptomatic should be barred from the business
These rules are consistent with the Governor’s existing emergency orders and represent a manageable risk profile, consistent with social distancing guidelines.
This guidance may be withdrawn if there is a spike in either hospital admissions or reported cases of COVID.
Violating businesses may have their power shut off. Violations come with a $500 fine and/or up to 6 months in the parish jail. Businesses that do not have a mechanism in which to count customers and determine six feet between shoppers are encouraged to not open until they are able to do so.
If you have any questions on whether or not your business falls under this category, please call 311 and press option 2, Monday through Friday, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.”
