In addition to orders issued by the county and state, the City of Galveston is under a Stay-at-Home order until at least 5 p.m. on April 3, 2020. This order is in place to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in the community and based on guidance from federal, state and local health authorities.
The City’s top priority is the health and safety of its residents. To better explain the order, we’ve compiled a list of commonly-asked Dos and Don’ts. The order in its entirety is available on our website for you to review.
DO
• Work: If you are an employee of an essential business, travel to and from your place of work is permissible.
• Picking up essentials: Minimize your trips to the store, but picking up essentials is an allowable activity. We encourage you to make some of your meals takeout from local restaurants to continue supporting our economy.
• Solitary exercise: Yes, we need to be staying at home. But we also know that fresh air is good for us. Walking, running or biking are all good solitary activities you can do while maintaining your distance from others.
• Care for others: Help the people in your life who may need assistance getting essential goods, just please remember to avoid physical contact while dropping those items off.
• Engage in meaningful activities at home to reduce stress: Play board games. Call loved ones. Read books. Catch up on home projects. Follow the virtual programming many local businesses and organizations are providing to stay engaged.
DON’T
• Social gatherings: We know this is difficult, especially for a place like Galveston, but we can’t get together right now. No crawfish boils, parties, church gatherings, not even small get-togethers with friends.
• Close contact: Outside of your immediate household, do not get within six feet of others. This is our best means of reducing exposure to the community.
• Travel: We know this is difficult, especially in a welcoming community like ours, but federal, state and local authorities have restricted travel and we are abiding by these orders. When it is safe to reopen, we will be open for business. We hope to see you again as soon as we can.
What to do if you see a social gathering in violation of this order?
The non-emergency phone number for the Galveston Police Department is 409-765-3702. Please note that our first responders are still responding to public safety calls and may not be able to address a situation immediately. For this reason, education is extremely important. Please help us by educating the people in your life about the Dos and Don’ts of this order.
Continue following the guidelines of the Center for Disease Control by practicing safe social distancing and healthy hygiene.
Galveston is and always has been a resilient community. We will get through this together. But no one person can protect our community and we need everyone to continue making responsible decisions for the health and safety of all.