Local Georgia communities ban in-person dining, impose curfews
Source: WSB-TV
The City of Brookhaven and Athens-Clarke County have announced stricter community restrictions to try to stop the spread of the coronavirus in their communities.
On Monday, Athens-Clarke County announced they will put a curfew into place from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. and limit public gatherings to 50 people or less. The curfew makes it against the law to walk around in public places outside between those hours.
Three people in Athens have tested positive for coronavirus.
The City of Brookhaven ordered all restaurants, bars and entertainment venues to close except for takeout and delivery through the end of the month.
The decision was made during an emergency city council meeting Monday afternoon.
“This is just the latest step in preventing the spread of this highly contagious virus. The CDC and Board of Health are advocating social distancing as a means of containing the Coronavirus, so we are requiring that Brookhaven restaurants and bars suspend dine-in service until March 30,” said Brookhaven Mayor John Ernst.
Restaurants that do offer take-out service are not allowed to have more than one customer inside at a time.
In addition to food and beverage sales, any venue that provides on-premises entertainment is also suspended, whether or not food or beverages are sold.
The city is also declaring a state of emergency.
“For the health and well-being of the greater Brookhaven community, the Chamber of Commerce supports and approves this emergency action by the City Council,” said Brookhaven Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Alan Goodman. “Everybody knows that Brookhaven has the best restaurants in the metro area. I would encourage residents to take advantage of the takeout and delivery options that are available to them to minimize the economic impact on all of our businesses.”
Brookhaven is the first city in metro Atlanta to formally ban in-person dining. The city joins California, Ohio, Massachusetts and Washington in implementing similar bans.
Uber Eats announced Monday they are waiving delivery fees on all Uber Eats orders from independent restaurants to drive sales to local favorites.
121 people across Georgia have been confirmed to have coronavirus. One person has died.