City of Columbia, Boone County announce new restrictions to help contain COVID-19

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Additional restrictions will be in place in the city of Columbia and Boone County to help contain the COVID-19 outbreak.

According to a news release from city officials Friday, the director of Health and Human Services issued a special order for the additional restrictions that will go into effect at 2 a.m. Saturday.

The order says that all bars and nightclubs without food service should be closed to the public for both indoor and outdoor seating.

All restaurants have also been ordered to close to the public for indoor and outdoor seating. However, restaurants are still allowed to offer food through delivery, drive-thru and carry-out.

Other places like movie theaters, live performance venues, bowling alleys and arcades must now limit the amount of people in the building to no more than 10, including employees. The same restriction also applies to gyms and fitness centers.

The order also says public and private gatherings must be limited to no more than ten people.

There are some exemptions to the rules, like cafeterias inside of hospitals and nursing homes, juvenile and adult detention centers, grocery stores, pharmacies, food banks, shelters and child care centers.

The order is in an effort to contain the spread of COVID-19 and also brings regulations into compliance with the state, which will announce similar restrictions on public gatherings Saturday.

*Editor's note: This article has been updated to reflect the order will go into effect at 2 a.m. Saturday