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By J.R. TIDWELL / Editor

Dominoes keep falling when it comes to worries on the coronavirus pandemic.

Groups across the country have been scrambling to put plans in place to help mitigate the spread of the disease.

The Chilton County Commission called an emergency meeting the morning of March 16 in order to seek advice and comment from different department heads, local elected officials and representatives from local municipalities.

According to a release from the Commission, as part of the plan the following precautions will be taken:

• Premises will be cleaned and disinfected continuously throughout the day.
• Public entrance into courthouse will be restricted to 10 people at any given time.
• Services will be limited to emergency and essential services.
• Counter distances have been marked to coincide with CDC recommendations.  Please adhere to the restrictive distances.
• When waiting outside the courthouse, please use the CDC guidelines of distance (which recommends six feet spacing between you and other members of the public.)
• Entrance to tag office will be limited to one customer per clerk on duty.

Also, a COVID-19 Task Force has been appointed by the Commission to help deal with the changing requirements and needs that may arise while the country is dealing with the outbreak.

“Members of the Task Force are Joseph Parnell, Jimmie Hardee, Allen Caton, Roger Bates, Sylvia Singleton, John Shearon and Derrick Wright,” according to the release. “As the situation evolves, new guidelines may be instituted as more information becomes available from state and federal agencies.”

Senior Connection in Clanton is closed until local schools are opened back up. All events, activities and trips are canceled until that time, per Director Vanessa McKinney.

“It was not a tough decision to close the doors,” McKinney said. “I have seen too much illness over the past few weeks without coronavirus having anything to do with it.”

Schools are currently set to start back on April 6. There is no direct connection between the two, McKinney said she simply uses the school system as an example of whether or not to potentially close down.

Martin and Ellison funeral homes will be limiting attendance to all services per CDC recommendations of 50 or less people per gathering, per press releases.

According to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, the state of Alabama has suspended all roads tests for new drivers and CDLs.

The state is also requesting people only come to renew licenses when they are close to expiring or even during the 60-day grace period after the expiration date. Using online services has also been suggested.