City of Fresno, California Issues Emergency ‘Shelter in Place’ Order

Essential Services and Activities Are Still Permitted

A nurse at a drive-thru coronavirus testing station in Seattle, Washington, on March 13, 2020, (Ted S. Warren/AP Photo)

Officials in Fresno, California, ordered residents to “shelter in place” to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP virus.

The Epoch Times refers to the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, as the CCP virus because the Chinese Communist Party’s coverup and mismanagement allowed the virus to spread throughout China and create a global pandemic.

The order allows residents to leave their homes for some services such as doctor’s appointments, grocery shopping, going to work, and picking up medications, according to the Fresno Bee. According to ABC30, locals can also engage in outdoor activity if they stay six feet away from other people, perform any activities considered essential, and to care for a family member or pet.

City Manager Wilma Quan signed the order before it was ratified by the City Council. The order will go into effect starting at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday, March 19.

“We are making the most difficult decision we’ve ever made,” Mayor Lee Brand said, adding, “In the end this is really a life and death situation,” as reported by the Bee.

Fresno, a city with a population of nearly 500,000, is one of the largest cities in the United States to issue such an order. Authorities in San Francisco and counties in California’s Bay Area issued a similar order earlier this week.

The order comes on the same day that President Donald Trump invoked emergency powers to order industry to help fight the CCP virus as economic instability has escalated during the pandemic. Detroit’s Big Three automakers of Fiat Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors announced they would shutter production in North America.