Nome residents are being restricted to no more than two grocery store visits per day. Liquor and marijuana store hours of operation within city limits will be shortened. All these changes go into effect Tuesday at 7pm as per an emergency ordinance passed by the City of Nome Monday.

The city ordinance states that local grocers have asked the city for the restrictions on visitors to reduce crowds and enforce social distancing. City Manager Glenn Steckman gave further explanation to KNOM.

“People were coming in and out constantly to these stores. And they’re looking at protecting their own workers.”

The City isn’t planning to enforce these ordinances by using law enforcement officers, but they are asking residents to be mindful of their trips to the store and how many people they need to take with them. Steckman suggests that families consider sending one individual to go shopping and to space out their visits to reduce crowds.

Liquor and marijuana retailers will only be allowed to operate between the hours of 11AM and 7pm, Monday-Saturday, and from noon to 7pm on Sunday.

The reason cited for reducing the hours of sale for liquor and marijuana, according to the ordinance, is that those purchases also encourage social gatherings. However, Manager Steckman says he recognizes that completely closing those facilities could be dangerous to community health.

“We have a portion of our community that if that happened could go into serious withdrawal and that would also be overwhelming our current medical capabilities. “

These changes go into effect tonight at 7pm and are scheduled to be in place until April 14^th at midnight.

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