Mecklenburg County Issues Stay-At-Home Order: Are YOU Essential?

In an attempt to “flatten the curve” and prevent the spread of COVID-19/Coronavirus, Mecklenburg County has issued a stay-at-home order for all County residents beginning on Thursday, March 26, 2020 at 8 a.m. and effective through April 16, 2020. This order encourages all county residents to stay in their residence for the next 21 days except when engaging in or providing essential activities and services.

Some examples of essential activities include going to the grocery store, warehouse store, or pharmacy, going to a restaurant for take-out or delivery, receiving medical care that you cannot obtain virtually, caring for a family member or friend, traveling to and from a job performing an essential service, and going outside to walk pets or exercise (while
maintaining a safe distance of at least six feet between you and another person).

For business owners, it is important to know what types of work are considered essential and thus do not need to transition to complete “work-from-home” operations while this order is effective. Businesses and types of work that are considered essential include the following:

     1. Healthcare and Public Health Operations: This includes all healthcare workers in hospitals; healthcare workers
where medical or dental care cannot be provided virtually, pharmacy personnel, mental health and substance abuse
providers, reproductive healthcare providers, home healthcare service providers, collectors of blood or plasma,
pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, and other healthcare workers or suppliers that assist with or provide
services for healthcare operations
     2. Essential Infrastructure: This includes food production, distribution, and sale,distribution centers, construction,
building management and maintenance, operations of utilities such as water, gas, sewage, electricity, collection and
removal of garbage and recycling, oil and biofuel refineries, airport operations, maintenance of roads and public
transportation, cybersecurity, internet, video, and telecommunications systems
     3. Human Service Operations: This include long-term care facilities; residential settings and shelters for adults and
children, including seniors, or people with disabilities, substance abuse disorders, and/or mental illness,
home-based services for such individuals, field offices relating to the provision and/or determination of eligibility for
basic need services, developmental centers, adoption centers, or businesses providing food, shelter, social services,
and other basic necessities of life to disadvantaged or needy individuals
     4. Essential Government Functions: This includes first responders, dispatchers, court personnel, law enforcement
and corrections personnel, hazardous materials responders, child and adult protection services, housing and shelter
personnel, military; and other employee working to support essential businesses or operation
     5. Stores Selling Groceries and Medicine: This includes grocery stores, pharmacies, certified farmer’s markets,
convenience stores, pet supplies, stores selling fresh meats, fish, and poultry, stores selling alcoholic beverages,
and stores selling household consumer products, such as cleaning products or personal care products
     6. Food, Beverage, and Agriculture: This includes food and beverage manufacturing, production, processing,
cultivation, including farming, livestock, fishing, baking, distribution of animals and good for consumption, providing
food, shelter, and other necessities for animals. This also includes animal shelters, animal rescues, kennels, and
adoption facilities.
     7. Hardware and Supply Stores
     8. Information and Media: This includes media, such as television, radio, newspapers, and communication
​and information technology, such as internet service providers and IT
     9. Businesses Essential to Transportation Services: This includes airlines, taxis, public transportation,
transportation network providers (such as Uber and Lyft), other transportation and logistics necessary to facilitate
essential activities or essential business operations, vehicle rental, logistics, gas stations, auto-supply and auto-
repair and related facilities, and bicycle shop and related facilities
     10. Financial Institutions: This includes banks, currency exchange, and consumer lenders, including but not limited,
to payday lenders, pawnbrokers, consumer installment lenders and sales finance lenders, credit unions, appraisers,
title companies, financial markets, trading and future exchanges, affiliates of financial institutions, entities that issue
bonds, related financial institutions, and institutions selling financial products
     11. Mail and Shipping/Delivery Services: This includes post offices and other businesses that provide shipping and
delivery services, businesses that ship or deliver groceries, food, goods or services to end users or through
commercial channels
     12. Educational Institutions: This includes all public and private educational institutions from pre-K through college
and university and which may only operate for purposes of facilitating distance learning, performing critical research
related to COVID-19, or performing essential operations as defined below
     13. Public Works and Utilities: This includes energy, water and wastewater, transportation and logistics for the
County, and businesses handling hazardous materials
     14. Organizations Providing Charitable and Social Services: This includes both businesses and nonprofits (both
religious and secular) providing food, shelter, and social services, such as homeless shelters, services to help the
economically disadvantaged or disabled, and food banks
     15. Home-based Care and Services: This includes home-based care for adults, seniors, children, people with
disabilities. This includes nannies who may travel to a child’s home to provide care and meal delivery services.
     16. Residential facilities and shelters: This includes facilities for adults, seniors, and children, and/or people with
disabilities, substance abuse disorders, or mental illness. Some examples include nursing homes, assisted living
facilities, and homeless shelters
     17. Childcare Centers: This is limited to childcare for employees providing essential services such as first
responders, healthcare workers, public health, health and human services staff, and others responding to COVID-19
     18. Restaurants for Off-Site Consumption: This is limited to restaurants offering curb-side pick-up, delivery
services (through the restaurant or third-party delivery service), or drive-thru. No on-site consumption is permitted.
     19. Hotels and Motels: Operations are limited to lodging and providing carry-out or delivery food
     20. Laundry Services: This includes laundromats and dry cleaners, both industrial and commercial
     21. Funeral Services: This includes cremation, burial, cemetery and related services.
     22. Professional Services: This includes legal, accounting, insurance, and real estate (restricted to appraisal and
title services)
     23. Construction and Critical Trades: This includes tradespeople providing services such as building and
construction and related services such as plumbers, electricians, exterminators, cleaning and janitorial staff for
commercial and governmental properties, security staff, operating engineers, HVAC, painting, moving and relocation
services, and other service providers who provide services that are necessary to maintaining the safety, sanitation,
and essential operation of residences, essential activities, and essential businesses
     24. Business manufacturing or providing supplies to work from home
     25. Businesses providing supplies for essential business and operations: This includes businesses
manufacturing such products or providing support, such as computers, audio-visual electronics, household
appliances, IT and telecommunication equipment, hardware, heating, cooling, and plumbing equipment, firearm and
ammunition suppliers for purposes of safety and security, optics and photography equipment, medical and
orthopedic equipment
     26. Manufacturing, distribution, and supply chain: This is limited to critical products and industries. This includes
manufacturing companies, distributors, and supply chain companies producing and supplying essential products and
services related to healthcare, pharmaceuticals, technology, biotechnology, chemicals and sanitation, waste pickup
and disposal, food and beverage, transportation, energy, national defense, steel and steel products, petroleum and
fuel, mining, construction, communications, and other products used by essential businesses

All non-essential businesses must reduce operations except for “minimum basic operations,” which means operations limited to those activities necessary to maintain and preserve the value of the business (including maintaining inventory, preserving condition of the business’s physical location and/or equipment, ensure security, process payroll and employee benefits) or facilitate employees being able to work from home. Some examples of non-essential businesses are gyms and recreational centers, theaters, shopping malls, museums, sporting and entertainment venues, salons and spas, bowling alleys, and skating rinks.

While essential businesses are allowed to continue operating, it is important to establish education and protocol for allowing employees to continue doing their jobs while minimizing the risk of exposure among employees and others. This includes continuing to practice social distancing practices of maintaining at least six feet between employees and customers, enhanced sanitation protocol and access to sanitization products, separating vulnerable employees or populations when applicable, and maintaining communication with employees so that they may be able to reach their employer remotely if necessary.

Finally, the County has ordered that all public and private gatherings of more than 10 people are prohibited (except where they reside in the same house).