City Working on Plan to Safely Reopen
BRANSON, Mo – The City of Branson is currently developing plans to safely reopen the City under the framework of Missouri Governor Mike Parson’s newly announced “Show Me Strong Recovery” Plan.
On March 23, 2020, the City of Branson passed an essential business and social gathering ordinance to flatten the curve and save as many lives as possible. Thanks to the actions of our citizens to practice social distancing, wearing masks, and virus protecting hygiene along with the fast action of our Board of Alderman; the City’s plans appear to be working as Taney County currently has 10 cases and one death.
The health and safety of Branson residents and visitors remains a top priority for the City of Branson. Using a variety of strategies such as the President’s Reopen America Again, American Enterprise Institute, Centers for Disease Control Pandemic Strategy, Department of Homeland Security Epidemic/Pandemic Plan, Missouri Governor Mike Parson’s Show Me Strong Recovery Plan, City of Branson professional staff are working with the Taney County Health Department and the Branson Chamber of Commerce’s Re-Open Branson Task Force to develop a plan suitable for Branson and its unique qualities as a tourist destination.
While the details of Branson’s specific plan are still being worked out, it will fall within the President’s and Governor’s guidelines and will likely involve “the turning of a dial, not a flip of a switch,” as the Governor put it in yesterday’s announcement. In the plan he laid out yesterday, the Governor called for flexibility between individual cities and counties.
“Some communities may be able to reopen at a faster rate while others may need to continue some guidance to keep the virus from spreading,” said Governor Mike Parson.
As the Governor stated yesterday, his plan will look different in each community and encouraged each city and county to have their own guidance. The City of Branson’s reopening plan will need to be approved and voted on by the Branson Board of Aldermen. This means it will go before the Board in a public Board of Aldermen meeting.
It’s important for Branson residents, community members, and businesses to adhere to Branson specific ordinances as long as they are in place to continue the momentum in keeping COVID-19 at bay. While the City would all prefer that COVID-19 never happened, City officials believe Branson’s measured approach to the pandemic will help us move forward with confidence that we will become a more resilient community in the future.
When it comes to reopening or anything relating to COVID-19, The City of Branson will continue to work in coordination with partner agencies, as well as the state and federal government, to monitor this rapidly evolving situation and to ensure our response actions are based on the latest facts. We will communicate updates to the Branson community as the situation changes and as we make additional decisions regarding our local response. For these updates, go to the “Coronavirus Updates” page on our website at http://www.bransonmo.gov/805/Coronavirus-Information.
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