Mayor Announces Extension, Changes to City’s State of Emergency for COVID-19

Fresno Mayor Lee Brand today announced that Emergency Orders 2020-02 and 2020-08 calling for all individuals living in the City of Fresno to shelter at their place of residence, except to provide or receive essential services or engage in essential activities, has been extended through midnight Wednesday, May 6, 2020.  The new emergency order, 2020-13, was signed by City Manager Wilma Quan this morning and becomes effective at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, April 11, 2020.

In addition to the extension, Emergency Order 2020-13 changes the shelter in place order to a directive, and it prohibits all gatherings of any number of people occurring outside a single household or living unit, directs all essential businesses to use specific social distancing protocols and require employees to wear protective facial coverings, allows the City Manager to close any park that cannot operate within safe social distancing practices, and provides for the potential for penalties for egregious or persistent violations.

“By all indications, the people of Fresno are doing an excellent job of sheltering in place and social distancing, but we must continue these practices if we are to protect every man, woman and child in our city,” said Mayor Brand. “The next two weeks are critical to slowing and eventually stopping the spread of COVID-19. I know we asking our residents and businesses to make tremendous sacrifices, but I wouldn’t ask if I wasn’t willing to make the same sacrifices and if I didn’t think it was the best way to protect everyone in our community.”

The original emergency order was set to expire on March 31, 2020 and was previously extended to expire on April 12, 2020. Emergency Order 2020-13 is attached and can be found on the City’s COVID-19 page at www.fresno.gov/coronavirus/.

For the latest information on all City-issued emergency orders and other coronavirus-related decisions, call 3-1-1 or visit the City of Fresno website at www.fresno.gov.

We encourage you to visit www.cdc.gov to learn more about COVID-19 and follow the Fresno County Department of Public Health website for regular updates.

Emergency Order 2020-13 Shelter in Place- Extended and Expanded with Appendix A