The City of Austin and Travis and Williamson Counties issued a joint shelter in place order in effect as of 11:59 p.m. on March 24, 2020, continuing until April 13, 2020. Full text of Mayor Steve Adler’s order can be found here.
The order requires all non-essential businesses to cease operations or order employees to work from home. Essential businesses include healthcare operations, supermarkets, farmers’ markets, food banks, liquor stores and other establishments engaged in the retail sale of food and household consumer products, food cultivation, social services and charitable organizations providing food and shelter, news media, gas stations, financial institutions, hardware stores, critical trades, mail and delivery services, laundry services, restaurants for off-premise consumption, businesses supplying products needed for people to work from home, critical infrastructure businesses, food delivery services, transportation, home-based care services, residential facilities and shelters, professional services (such as legal, accounting, insurance, and real estate when necessary to assist in compliance with legally mandated activities or to further essential businesses), IT services, moving supply services, hotels, funeral services, educational institutions and childcare facilities can remain open, provided that social distancing is maintained
Guidance on identification of essential critical infrastructure workers can be found here.
Public and private gatherings of any number of people outside a single household are prohibited.
Residents are allowed to leave their residence for the following essential activities:
- For health and safety, including care for family or pets
- For necessary supplies, for themselves or family/household members, or to deliver such supplies to others. Includes groceries, food, pet supplies, household consumer products
- For outdoor activity such as hiking, walking, bicycling and running, provided individuals comply with the social distancing requirements (at least six-foot distance from other individuals)
- To perform work covered as an essential business, government service or critical infrastructure; or
- To take care of others, including family members or pets in another household
Anyone caught violating the order faces a fine of no more than $1,000 and up to 180 days in jail.
For additional web-based resources available to assist you in monitoring the spread of the coronavirus on a global basis, you may wish to visit the CDC and the World Health Organization.
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