Sioux Falls City Council Passes New COVID-19 Ordinance

In what has become a seemingly ever-shifting ordinance passing and repealing exercise, the Sioux Falls City Council has done away with one ordinance and put in place another.

This morning, (Thursday, May 7), according to a press release from T.J. Nelson with Mayor Paul Ten Haken's office, the council had a special meeting, at which they voted to loosen some of the restrictions Sioux Falls businesses have been following, in the effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

The mayor indicated that after reviewing information on revised COVID-19 projections for the community from Avera, Sanford, and the City of Sioux Falls, the council members felt it was time to alleviate some of the mitigation guidelines for businesses.

So, it is out with the old "No Lingering" ordinance and in with the new "No Mingling" ordinance as of Friday, May 8.

The No Mingling ordinance applies to all businesses in the Sioux Falls city limits. Businesses are still expected to follow social distancing protocols and to continue to comply with all federal and state guidelines regarding efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Other tenets of this ordinance according to the Mayor's office press release include:

• All food service businesses can serve parties of 6 adults "on-premise". (Children are not included in these limits.)
• Businesses have to limit the number of patrons they are serving to 10 or separate groups by 6 feet from each other, whichever comes first.
• Gyms, health clubs, entertainment facilities, etc., must limit on-site clients to 10 or 50% of "the building's occupancy".

Maybe this all makes complete sense, but my head is still spinning. So, if you have 6 adults escorting a dozen kids each - -is that okay?

See what I mean?

Source: City of Sioux Falls Office of the Mayor