City of Rowlett Shelter in Place Order in effect through April 3

(ROWLETT, TX – March 23, 2020) Rowlett Mayor Tammy Dana-Bashian amended the City’s Declaration of Local Disaster for Public Health Emergency and has issued a Shelter in Place order. This order mirrors the order put in place by Dallas County and affects everyone in the City of Rowlett, whether in Dallas or Rockwall County. The order is effective 11:59pm Tuesday, March 24 through April 3. (Dallas County’s order for the Dallas County portion of Rowlett still goes into effect tonight at 11:59pm.)

City of Rowlett Amended Declaration of Local Disaster for Public Health Emergency (pdf)
Dallas County Amended Declaration of Local Disaster for Public Health Emergency (pdf)

In addition to the provisions spelled out in previous orders (which remain in effect through April 30), the Shelter in Place order (in effect thru April 3) includes:
–All individuals currently living within the City of Rowlett are ordered to shelter at their place of residence.

–All persons may leave their residences only for Essential Activities, or to provide or perform Essential Governmental Functions, or to operate Essential Businesses (please see Section 3, entitled “Definitions”, of the order for a definition of these terms – the listing is quite extensive).

–All businesses operating within the City of Rowlett, except Essential Businesses, are required to cease all activities at facilities located within the city. For clarity, businesses may continue operations consisting exclusively of employees or contractors performing activities at their own residences (i.e. working from home).

–All public or private gatherings of any number of people occurring outside a single household or living unit are prohibited, except as otherwise provided in the order. Nothing in this Order prohibits the gathering of members of a household or living unit.

We know these new, more stringent measures may be unpleasant for some, but the need to protect the most vulnerable members of our community outweighs any possible individual discomfort.The virus that causes COVID-19 is easily transmitted through person to person contact, especially in group settings, and it is essential that the spread of the virus be slowed to protect the ability of public and private health care providers to handle the influx of new patients and safeguard public health and safety.

For the full report on the City’s website: Rowlett.com/COVID-19 (https://bit.ly/38Kzli9) for more information.