Effective immediately, the City of Lumberton has imposed a curfew, along with several restrictions at businesses and other establishments to help halt the spread of coronavirus in the community.
On March 30, Mayor Quincy Rogers issued Executive Order 1, which institutes a city-wide curfew of 11 p.m.-7 a.m, not including businesses or residents traveling to and from workplaces. Failure to adhere to the curfew - or any other provisions of the order - will incur a fine of up to $650 for each occurrence.
The order will remain in place until rescinded by the mayor.
"As mayor, I am hoping and praying that we all take this pandemic with the coronavirus very, very seriously," Rogers said. "This virus does not discriminate - it does not discriminate with age, it does not discriminate with any type of ethnicity.
"It is a killer, and we should all be mindful and please adhere to the orders of the city, and also the orders of the governor of the state of Mississippi."
The executive order also requires restaurants to close any dine-in areas, but they can remain open for delivery, takeout, drive-thru and curbside pickup. On-site dining will not be allowed indoors or outdoors.
The order closes several non-essential establishments, including performance venues, entertainment venues, recreational facilities, gyms, fitness centers, studios, non-food retail establishments, cosmetology establishments, barber shops, beauty salons and nail salons. Buffets or salad bars located inside grocery stores or convenience stores must be converted to staff-serve only, and dining areas located inside those establishments are required to close to dine-in patrons.
Meals prepared at grocery stores, supermarkets or convenience stores must be served by takeout, drive-through, curbside pickup or delivery.
Businesses allowed to remain open include pharmacies, stores selling health care or cleaning products, hardware and home improvement stores, veterinary clinics, automobile service centers, gas stations, professional offices that provide emergency client services, law offices and accounting offices.
