BANGOR, Maine — As of 6 p.m. on Monday, the City of Bangor has demanded the closures of more businesses in the city due to the new coronavirus, COVID-19.
"We're really looking for voluntary compliance," Bangor City Councilor Ben Sprague said.
"It's gotta be community enforcement," Council Chair Clare Davitt echoed.
Davitt and Sprague, as well as other officials in Bangor, are discussing ways to keep the community safe and healthy during this time.
"The conversation has come up because this is a rapidly moving virus and we want to do everything we can to keep people safe," Sprague said.
Last week, city officials met to discuss a potential shelter in place policy, ordering people to stay in their homes except for essential errands like grocery shopping and getting gas.
Councilor Angela Okafor spoke in favor of ordering 'shelter in place' then.
On Sunday night, the City put more business on the must close list.
All retail stores in the city to close as of 6 p.m. on Monday.
"Making it stricter is my priority," Okafor said after the new order was issued.
City officials expect to discuss COVID-19 at Monday's meeting and beyond.
OFFICIAL BANGOR ORDER
Dr. Geoff Gratwick and some other Maine doctors are urging local and state officials to stop talking, and take action now.
"We should have had shelter in place last week," Gratwick said.
While Monday's city council meeting is closed to the public because of COVID-19 concerns, anyone can listen in and participate in it in a number of ways listed in this Twitter thread.
At NEWS CENTER Maine, we're focusing our news coverage on the facts and not the fear around the illness. To see our full coverage, visit our coronavirus section, here: /coronavirus