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NATCHEZ — To further protect Natchez residents from COVID-19, Mayor Darryl Grennell has issued the following guidelines for essential businesses that necessarily require customers to enter the building, such as grocery stores, hardware stores, convenience stores, dollar stores, pharmacies, and other essential retailers.

These guidelines do not affect the curbside guidelines in effect for restaurants and bars. The Mayor charged Chief Walter Armstrong of the Natchez Police Department with distributing these guidelines directly to the owners and/or managers of these operations throughout the city and strongly urges all residents and essential businesses to strictly comply.

Maintain Social Distancing:
1. Only one person per vehicle should enter inside the store.

2. Limit the number of customers in any commercial space to 5 people per 1,000 square feet.

3. Apply tape or decals to floor to set safe distancing of customers at 6 feet or more while in check-out.

4. Limit directional flow in narrow aisles to one-way.

5. Please don’t bring children under 16 years old into stores if at all possible. Make every attempt to find someone to watch your children at home. If you must bring your children into the store you must keep them under tight control and good behavior. If children are not under control, the customer should be asked to leave the store. Do not leave children in vehicles during hot weather.

Facial Masks:

6. Employees and customers (including children) must wear a protective mask. Any type of mask will suffice, including bandanas, scarfs or similar mask covering both the nose and mouth. Medical masks are not required. Remember: “My mask protects you. Your mask protects me.”

Hand, Cart, Counter Hygiene and Hoarding

7. Provide hand-washing stations for customers and employees to use both before and after shopping and encourage use upon entering and exiting. If hand-washing stations are not possible, provide hand sanitizer for every customer to use before allowing entrance into the store. Hand washing and sanitizing applies to children as well.

8. Sanitize shopping carts before use by each customer. This can be accomplished by a spray sanitizer, sanitizing wipes, or washing them down between customers with lightly soapy water.

9. Check-out clerks should sanitize hands and counter between each customer. Gloves are not needed unless the employer’s policies require them. Check-out clerks should be required to wash hands no less than every half hour.

10. Continue to implement policies to prevent hoarding of scarce items.