CLEVELAND — The City of Cleveland has extended the curfew for downtown and the Market District originally scheduled to end at 8 p.m. Tuesday to Wednesday at 6 a.m. An overnight curfew form 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. will remain in place until Friday.
Mayor Frank Jackson said the curfew was extended because, “what we want to make sure is that people aren’t just sitting, waiting for the place to reopen again and then they’ll rush back in.”
From June 3 to June 5, the restricted area will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. and restricted to visitors from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Residents were alerted of the extension by an emergency text alert sent to phones at around 10 a.m. At about 11 a.m., the City of Cleveland included a notice about the curfew extension in its daily COVID-19 update news release.
On Monday, thousands of commuters found downtown exits blocked by police and road barricades, throwing local roadways into gridlock. Hours later, the city and police attempted to further publicize and clarify exactly what the city's curfew orders mean, but those efforts appear to have added another layer of confusion.
Cleveland Ward 3 Councilman Kerry McCormack, who represents the downtown area, struggled Sunday evening to get answers and clarification regarding the closures and curfew.
He resorted to asking the City of Cleveland for clarification on social media, tagging the City of Cleveland's Twitter account in his tweets.
"There was really poor communication today to all parties involved in and around downtown, which is extremely frustrating," McCormack said, "And I think that led to a lot of the issues that we’ve seen throughout the day."
The city attempted to clarify the curfew with the following orders:
Residents
Residents within the curfew zone who need to travel in and out of the restricted area will be permitted with proper identification showing their residence. Pedestrian traffic within the curfew zone is permitted for activities including pet walking and essential travel such as medical appointments and to buy food. Residents who call downtown home are asked to remain in their homes as much as possible during the curfew.
Volunteers
There will be no community volunteer clean-up efforts during the curfew. The city said all future opportunities will be coordinated through the Downtown Cleveland Alliance.
Downtown Office Workers
Office workers will not be permitted into the restricted area unless officially designated or excluded in the Mayor’s Proclamation of Civil Emergency.
RELATED: City attempts to clarify confusion over curfew orders
