LAWTON – The Lawton City Council last Thursday approved a sweeping new set of mandates to battle the coronavirus pandemic citywide, including establishing a daily curfew from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. and requiring big- box stores to limit patron occupancy.
The curfew, which went into effect last Monday, will last at least through April 21.
In addition, the council ordered the closure of all golf courses, tennis courts, and other outdoor sports courts and facilities.
Over approximately four hours of discussion and debate, councilmembers often struggled to reach the best compromise possible on issues related to the disease, whether it be on suggestions like closing the city golf course or whether big-box stores like Lowe’s and Home Depot met the criteria of essential businesses that should be allowed to remain open.
“It’s difficult to know what to do,” Mayor Stan Booker said early in the council session as discussion began over what the next steps are that should be taken to protect citizens from the virus.
“Any people who think we are going to be exempted from this pandemic are crazy,” Vice Mayor Keith Jackson added.
In addition to the curfew and the sports venue closings, the council, as part of the city’s shelter-in-place and civil emergency declaration, are now requiring essential employees to carry special travel documents that would alert law enforcement that they can be on the road and out in public working. Those documents would be issued by employers and are not official government documents.
Strong mandates requiring strict social distancing and sanitation also now are in effect.
As councilmembers were discussing responses to COVID-19, reports revealed that 27 Comanche County residents have tested positive for the virus, as have another seven people in Stephens County.
Strict guidelines for people shopping in stores, such as Walmart, Lowe’s, Home Depot and grocery stores also were established by the council.
Other council-mandated orders include requiring businesses to install sneeze
guards for customer and employee safety. Such barriers already have been built in some stores. Normally, they consist of a piece of plexiglass attached to two posts and bolted to checkout counters.
When it was mentioned that plexiglass is getting difficult to locate and purchase, it was suggested other material, like plastic sheeting or clear food wrap be used.
Under guidelines regarding store occupancy, a store must use its total square footage and divide that number by 500 to determine how many people can be in the store at once. However, the council ordered no more than 100 people to be in a store at one time, except for large retailers like Walmart.
In addition, Walmart is not allowed to sell clothing except through its website or through Walmart Pickup. In those cases, the store can deliver to customers waiting outside of the store the way they do now for grocery customers. Customers also will be able to pick up other items at the drive-through service.
Councilmembers also approved of Booker’s previous social distancing edicts to lower from 10 to six people the number of citizens who could gather in one setting – as long as they observed the 6-foot social distancing protocols. The council set slightly different rules for funerals, allowing 10 people at one time to attending those gatherings.
Signs posting social distancing also are now required in stores and customers are limited to using one shopping cart each in hopes of keeping people from shopping together. Stores are also required to make the shopping aisles one-way to help maintain social distancing and to make sanitatizing wipes or paper towels available at cash registers and gas pumps.
During the meeting, which was broadcast live on Facebook, 2402 people commented during the entire length of the council session, with many praising and condemning the council’s actions.