St. Joseph Shelter-in-Place Enforcement (4-1-20)

St. Joseph Shelter-in-Place Enforcement (4-1-20)

Mayor bill mcmurray says the latest stay-at-home order that took effect overnight includes means of enforcement.

Good evening and thank you for joining us.kq2's kilee thomas joins us in studio now with what exactly that means.

There will now be some enforcement of the city's stay-at-home ordinance.the mayor says this comes after some non-essential businesses continue to stay open, disregarding the order.

While most non-essential business closed their doors...following st.

Joseph's stay-at-home order says there were some exceptions about everybody is complying and so we really thank people.

You're being a good citizen, you're stopping the spread of this virus and i really do appreciate everybody's compliance, with a few exceptions."

Those few exceptions are some of the reasons behind the city's decision to beef up their enforcement.

Non-essential businesses still operating, may see some fines.

"we'll send out one of our ephs's and they'll go out and have a conversation with the business and explain to them why they aren't essential, try and get them to close.

That's our goal, is to get them to voluntarily close, but if it's hesitant then there are a few extra steps we take.

There's a cease and desist letter that we have to give and then it's followed up by some citations."

Department enforcing the stay-at-home ordinance say these enforcement procedures only apply to businesses.

Residents who aren't complying with social distancing cannot be cited.

"as of right now, i don't want to say it's voluntary, but it's strongly encouraged that you do it.

Once you start opening the door for that, it turns into something else and we're going out ticketing people for not standing six feet apart which we don't do or at least we aren't doing yet."

The system is complaint driven--meaning if you see a business open that you think should be closed during the order, the health department encourages you to contact the covid-19 hotline number.

That's not to say the health department isn't going to stop by businesses on their own.

"if it's during the course of our regular inspections, we're definitely going to comment on it and start the process right then and there."

Businesses given a cease and desist letter do have a chance to appeal.

These businesses can plead their case to the health director on why they are indeed essential.the fines can go up to $500.

The covid-19 hotline number to find out if you're an essential business or report if a non-essential business is still open, is 816-271-4613.

Reporting, kilee thomas, kq2 news.

Stay-in-place orders