Even with Governor Kim Reynolds’ recent proclamation to reopen commerce throughout the state, many cities have elected to take a cautious approach to easing their own social distancing guidelines related to COVID-19.

The outbreak is still of major concern for the City of Perry, particularly with the recent revelation that 58% of workers at the Tyson Fresh Meats plant had contracted the virus at some point over the last two months. Perry City Administrator Sven Peterson says there’s no official mandate for them keeping the doors to their facilities closed at this time, but he and the rest of the City staff feel it’s best to take things slow. “We just want to make sure that we’re not opening up spaces that would add or encourage people to congregate and spread any sort of coronavirus or anything else that might be floating around out there. So we’re going to take it extra cautious on our end, and you’ll probably see a little bit different of an operation once we do reopen. There might be some new procedures and things like that, so just be patient with us and we’ll get through this together.”

Perry officials also encourage residents to follow public health recommendations until the threat of coronavirus has diminished, including: stay home as much as possible and only leave for essential errands; limit social gatherings to members of the same household; cover coughs and sneezes; wash your hands often and sanitize frequently-touched objects; and wear a face covering and keep six feet away from others when out in public.