Photo by Erin Nelson Starnes Media
Birmingham City Hall
Birmingham City Hall on Wednesday, March 18, 2020. Photo by Erin Nelson
The Birmingham City Council voted unanimously this afternoon to adopt a new shelter-in-place ordinance that allows the city to legally enforce social distancing in the community and help slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus before local hospitals are overrun with cases in the coming weeks.
According to the language of the ordinance, it establishes a “public safety curfew” effective immediately and continuing at least until midnight on Friday, April 3. The curfew could be extended.
Because of the danger of the rapidly spreading virus, "all persons shall remain in their places of residence and shall not be or remain in public places," the ordinance reads.
There are numerous exceptions to the ordinance, both for individuals — including those en route to or from work — and for governmental operations and businesses deemed to be essential.
Mayor Randall Woodfin announced the ordinance during a press conference at 1 p.m. at City Hall and spoke to the council at their 4 p.m. meeting prior to the 9-0 vote.
“We are under a state of emergency,” Woodfin told council members. “This is a health crisis. We do not have the luxury to wait and see what happens or wait to have other people tell us what we should do on behalf of our residents.”
Woodfin and several of the council members expressed concern that too many city residents have continued to gather in city parks, play sports and socialize in large groups without maintaining social distancing.
“There has been very little adjustment of lifestyle from what people have been asked to do” by the council and the county, Councilor Clinton Woods said.
The city’s shelter-in-place order follows the model of the Jefferson County Health Department, which ordered over the last few days that all non-essential business in the county — such as restaurants, bars, breweries, hair salons, recreational facilities and most retailers — be closed immediately.
However, the new ordinance will not close any other businesses that have not already been forced to close by the county, Woodfin stressed.
“We are not adding any new business to close that the [Jefferson County Health Department] hasn't already added,” the mayor said during the press conference.
The new curfew prohibits, with some exceptions, any “public and private gatherings of 10 or more persons or of any size where a consistent distance of at least 6 feet cannot be maintained.”
At the press conference, Woodfin said that the ordinance would allow the city to put some teeth in efforts to get more people to stay at home and legally enforce social distancing.
Some of the exceptions to the curfew are as follows:
- Residents can leave home to carry out numerous essential activities, such as buying groceries, picking up prescriptions, seeking medical care or caring for a minor, elderly person or person with disabilities.
- They can engage in outdoor recreation, such as running and hiking, as long as they have no physical contact with others.
- Numerous businesses classified as essential, including logistics, distribution, manufacturing, telecommunications, banking and legal services will continue to operate.
- Local, county state and federal government operations — including first responders, sanitation and public works — will not be affected.
Woodfin said the city previously used the term “recommend” in asking that people adopt these practices.
“We need now to pivot from ‘recommend’ to full enforcement,” he said today.
“We have no other choice” but to pass the ordinance, Councilor John Hillliard said, noting that local health care professionals have warned that the city’s hospitals could face a “tsunami” of COVID-19 patients.
UAB Hospital earlier today said the number of patients being treated in the hospital for COVID-19 has grown from three patients on Saturday to 11 Sunday, 17 Monday and 45 Tuesday.
Graphic courtesy of UAB Hospital
UAB In-Patient COVID-19 Cases 3-24-20
The Alabama Department of Public Health as of Tuesday morning said there 215 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state, including 90 in Jefferson County and 24 in Shelby County.
While there have been no deaths attributed to the disease in Alabama, the Georgia Department of Public Health on Tuesday said 38 people had died from COVID-19 in Georgia and 361 people had been hospitalized with the disease there.
“We will be on the right side of history by making this decision,” Woodfin said at the press conference, noting that without efforts to stem the pandemic, many lives could be lost.
“A lot of thought was put into this, and the city should unite for a short period of time to flatten the curve so we can come out stronger on the other side,” Councilor Hunter Williams, chairman of the council’s Public Safety Committee, said.
