All Ascension Parish government offices will reopen to the public Monday for normal business hours, but visitors will be required to wear face masks or other face coverings and must employ other social distancing techniques.

Parish President Clint Cointment issued the directive Thursday morning as part of a timeline for changes in parish government operations after Gov. John Bel Edwards announced the easing, starting Friday, of his coronavirus stay-at-home order.

Under what's known as Phase 1, "non-essential" businesses and churches can open at 25% capacity, but they must require social distancing among customers and staff and require employees who deal with the public to wear face coverings. Included in that category of business are gyms, barber shops, hair and nail salons and theaters.

Edwards has said statewide hospitalizations, cases and those with symptoms from the viral illness are declining while efforts to test and trace new cases are expected to increase.

Government leaders in the Baton Rouge area largely welcomed Gov. John Bel Edwards decision to relax a stay-at-home order this Friday, with so

In Ascension Parish, visitors to government offices will be limited to one person per party.Plexiglas dividers have been installed, and parish employees interacting with the public will be wearing face masks.

Our goal is to keep everyone, the public and employees alike, safe and healthy, Cointment said in a statement.

Neighboring Livingston Parish reopened its offices on May 4 with similar measures. Ascension Parish government offices close before noon on Fridays, the first day Phase 1 is set to begin across the state.

The St. Gabriel area in Iberville Parish continues to have the highest number of casesofthe novelcoronavirusof any census tract in the state.

Cointment also added most activities can be carried out by telephone or online and noted that parish employees haven't stopped working during the pandemic.

Parish offices closed to walk-in traffic on March 17 due to the coronavirus outbreak, but many employees continued to work from home. Others remained in the field.

Parish officials encouraged visitors to follow guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at http://www.cdc.gov or on the parish government Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/AscensionGov/.

Each municipality in the parish is expected to issue its own office procedures.

Government leaders in the Baton Rouge area largely welcomed Gov. John Bel Edwards decision to relax a stay-at-home order this Friday, with so

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Ascension Parish government to reopen offices, with social distancing measures - The Advocate