By Joshua Huff, sports editor
BIRMINGHAM – The Birmingham City Council on Thursday approved an amended ordinance that relaxes the city’s 24-hour shelter-at-home order with a 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew set to expire on May 15, 2020.
The new ordinance went into effect on Thursday evening.
“We believe the actions we’ve taken are not only a common sense approach but it is the right thing to do under a state of emergency where we still have things that are still unanswered and don’t have data to provide to our residents that things are safer,” Mayor Randall Woodfin said.
Birmingham had previously extended the shelter-in-place order on April 3. The original order had called for residents to only travel for essential purposes such as work, grocery shopping and appointments with doctors.
The announcement follows Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall sending the city council and Woodfin a letter on Thursday imploring the city to reconsider the city’s intention to enforce a citywide face-covering ordinance set to go into effect on Friday, May 1, 2020, with jail time or fine.
The Birmingham order states that face coverings need to be worn when interacting with people in a public place outside of a home or a personal vehicle. The current fine can be up to $500 and/or up to 30 days in the municipal jail, should someone decide to disregard the order.
“Let me be clear,” Woodfin wrote in response to Marshall’s request. “That every action we take has two purposes: to protect the health of our citizens to the greatest extent possible and to get our business back open as quickly as possible so our citizens can go back to work.”