Contributed by the office of Gov. Kay Ivey
Gov. Kay Ivey issued her 25th supplemental emergency proclamation to further amend the recently extended Safer at Home order. Apart from the technical revisions made earlier this week on Monday and on March 12, 2021, the health order remains identical to the order issued by Ivey and Dr. Scott Harris on March 4, 2021.
Monday’s order amends paragraph 14 (“Educational institutions”) to reflect updated recommendations from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) concerning social distancing in elementary, middle and high schools. Under the previous order, all schools were required to take reasonable steps, where practicable, to maintain six feet of separation between persons of different households. The new language provides an exception to that rule for K-12 schools: These schools will be required to take reasonable steps to keep students from different households three feet apart from one another.
In amending her Safer at Home order, Ivey issued the following statement:
“Alabama continues moving in the right direction, and we feel very optimistic that COVID-19 will soon be in our rearview mirrors. Until then, we want to ensure that we are doing what we know is right in Alabama, based on recommendations by the CDC and other experts. That also means that we can continue taking reasonable steps to return to normal.
“Alabama schools, for the most part, are setting the example for the rest of the nation, because the majority of our students and teachers are back in the classroom. These latest guidelines from the CDC make the return to the classroom even easier for our schools, and I hope that districts here in Alabama and around the country follow the science and get our kids back in the classroom. Students have not had a voice during the pandemic, and I think we can all agree that it is past time for students and teachers to have the opportunity to be back in the classroom.”