The town of Many’s elected officials met in a special called meeting on March 16 in order to put a number of COVID-19 precautionary measures into place.
Earlier in the day, a state of emergency was declared for the parish by Mike McCormic, police jury president, and David Davis, director of the Sabine Parish Office of Homeland Security.
Also, during the meeting, Davis confirmed two presumptive cases in the parish, which have been submitted for testing.
The state of emergency lays out the potential effects of the ongoing pandemic, including the threat to the well-being of local citizens and the potential to exhaust local resources due to the excessive demand of public facilities. The declaration is also instrumental in opening up federal money for such emergencies.
Town of Many Mayor Ken Freeman brought their precautions to a vote during the meeting, which was unanimously passed by the council.
“We may be overreacting, but in this case it is better to be safe than sorry,” Freeman said at the meeting.
From Wednesday, March 18-April 4, the town has canceled all council meetings, city court, all activities at the Many Community Center, and any committee meetings.
City Hall will be closed to the public until May 4. Employees will still report for duty, and all services will remain. However, employees will still report, and regular town services will not be interrupted. Meaning that police will still be on patrol and town employees will still be performing their usual duties.
However, in order to curb the spread of Coronavirus all water payments, tax payments, occupational licenses, and ticket fines will still continue during the regular due date and can be made at the drive thru drop box. A check or money order will be required to pay. You may also mail in the payment or call and pay via a credit or debit card.
The town of Many will not disconnect water meters until May 4 to help contain the virus and encourage hand washing and increased hygiene.
As this story was being completed, the state made further restrictions to take place at 12 a.m. on Tuesday, March 17.
Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards has limited the size of gatherings to fewer than 50 people. The casinos, bars, and movie theaters will not be in operation, and restaurants will be limited to delivery, take out, and drive-thru orders only. They are hopeful that operations will resume on April 13. However, the situation will be reevaluated seven days prior to the date. It is stated that the state as a whole has 132 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and two deaths.
“More aggressive steps are necessary to fight the spread of COVID-19 across Louisiana. Following additional guidance from the CDC, gatherings of more than 50 people are no longer permitted, bars and casinos must close and restaurants will only be able to offer take out or delivery,” Gov. Edwards stated in a press release. “These limitations were difficult to make, but they are necessary to slow the spread of COVID-19, protect the health of Louisianans and flatten the curve.”
“What we’re learning is that it can take two weeks for symptoms to appear. We believe we are still unearthing community spread that’s been around for the past several weeks, which means it is a statewide problem that requires statewide solutions,” Gov. Edwards said. “In addition to meeting with Sen. Bill Cassidy this morning who is supportive of our efforts, I was also on a call with President Trump and Vice President Pence that lasted more than an hour and they were very clear that we must significantly expand our mitigation efforts to slow the progress of COVID-19 before there is more community spread. Action must be taken now, even in areas where there are no confirmed cases yet.”