Mayoral proclamation urges residents to stay at home, limit shopping
April 6, 2020
Mayor Paul TenHaken has issued an executive proclamation calling on Sioux Falls residents to stay at home and limit their visits to grocery and other retail stores.
The “safer at home” executive proclamation outlines the expectations from the mayor’s office to businesses and residents on how to improve mitigation efforts including social distancing.
“We’re taking it up another notch,” TenHaken said.
The elements included in the proclamation for residents are:
- Staying at home. Residents are strongly encouraged to remain in their homes except for solitary or household outdoor activities.
- Limit visits to grocery and retail stores to once per week and use delivery services.
- Participate in religious activities remotely when possible.
- Visit grocery and other retail stores by using one shopper per household.
- Avoid taking children still living at home on essential stopping trips when possible.
- Continue to use takeout and delivery options from restaurants.
- Use drive-thru pharmacy as much as possible.
- Residents returning from extended trips should self-quarantine for 14 days upon return, TenHaken said.
Residents over the age of 2 who do not have trouble breathing should consider wearing cloth face masks when in public areas outside their homes, the proclamation said.
“There’s been a lot of information, almost whiplash about wearing masks in public,” TenHaken said. “Wearing masks in public can be beneficial to slowing the spread of COVID.”
Businesses not bound by the limitations of 10 or fewer patrons should whenever possible implement a strategy for limiting customers to no more than 20 percent of posted occupancy and institute a safe social distancing plan for customers outside the place of business while they wait to enter, he added.
“If your posted occupancy is 500 people, you can have 100 people in your store at one time,” TenHaken said.
Through Sunday, there were 104 confirmed cases in Minnahaha County and 23 in Lincoln County. That represents 53 percent of the cases in South Dakota.
“The peak that we often talk about in the state is going to be driven by Sioux Falls and the MSA just because of the density we have here,” TenHaken said.
The city looks at case doubling to determine its status and potentially needed actions.
“We expect our numbers to continue to increase. We are still expecting the surge. We are in the early innings of that now,” he said.
