City of Joplin details reopening plan

The Joplin City Council has passed its plan to reopen the city to coincide with the reopening of Missouri on Monday, May 4. Joplin Mayor Gary Shaw says this plan will mostly follow Governor Mike Parson's plan but will be more detailed.

Click here to see the original plan in its entirety

UPDATE: Some of the fine details of this order have been changed.

Click here to see those amendments

The council changed the maximum people at one restaurant table from 10 to 6. They also eliminated the capacity limit at restaurants in favor of social distancing.

This framework is built upon the guidance outlined in National Coronavirus Response: A road map to reopening by the American Enterprise Institute. Within the plan, there are four phases:

• Phase 1: Slow the Spread
• Phase 2: Reopen, State by State [Community by Community] a.k.a. Recovery
• Phase 3: Establish Protection Then Lift All Restrictions
• Phase 4: Rebuild Our Readiness for the Next Pandemic

Although we are currently in Phase 1 of our COVID-19 response, the city says we should be looking to take steps to resume normal life---while preventing steps backward.

Step 1 starts on Monday. This would reopen business and organizations with occupancy limitations. Most businesses including restaurants, gyms, places of worship, barbershops and theaters will be restrticted to 25% of the entity's authorized fire or building code if they are less than 10,000 square feet. If they are larger than 10,000 feet they are restricted to 10% of their fire or building code.

Mass gatherings cannot take place. Bars must still continue to be closed. Schools will also remain closed.