Halifax County is enacting a curfew that will apply to the unincorporated areas of Halifax County in further efforts to minimize the spread of COVID-19. 

An unincorporated area is any area of the county outside the limits of a town or city and one which doesn’t have a municipal government.

The curfew will go into effect this evening at 9. It will be from 9 p.m. through 6 a.m. daily until further notice.

The county said in a statement this afternoon the curfew is an amendment of the county’s original state of emergency.

Exceptions to the curfew include: health care providers, human services providers, essential infrastructure operations, essential governmental operations workers, essential business workers, and individuals experiencing homelessness. 

This also includes all first responders, emergency management personnel, emergency telecommunicators, legislators, judges, court personnel, jurors and grand jurors, law enforcement and corrections personnel, hazardous materials responders, child protection and welfare personnel, housing and shelter personnel, military, and other governmental employees working for or to support COVID-19 essential businesses and operations.

As a reminder, the county said, the governor’s stay at home Executive Order Number 121 addresses mass gatherings — now defined as more than 10 persons — and social distancing. All public and private gatherings that bring together more than ten 10 persons in a single space at the same time, indoor or outdoor are prohibited, with some exceptions. 

This does not include normal operations of any essential business or operation listed in the governor’s executive order.

In an effort to promote human dignity and limit suffering, funerals are permitted to include no more than 50 persons while observing social distancing requirements to the extent practicable.