May 12, 2020
On Friday, May 8, 2020, Governor Kay Ivey issued an additional update to the state of emergency declaration for the State of Alabama. It updates the initial state of emergency declared on March 13, 2020, and updated on March 18, 20, 23, and 26. The initial emergency declaration can be found here. This latest supplement contains six main sections, for the purpose of preparing for an anticipated surge, dealing with the current strain on health care, promoting social distancing, and reducing the spread of COVID-19 in Alabama jails.
- The Supplement permits many categories of healthcare providers who hold licenses in other states with the equivalent of the Alabama licensing rules to practice using their state’s licenses. It also allows a chief of medical staff or medical director of a licensed healthcare facility to serve as the collaborating physician of an unlimited number of Certified Nurse Practitioners and Certified Nurse Midwives, and to provide direction to an unlimited number of Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists and to supervise unlimited numbers of physician assistants and anesthesia assistants. It requires certain licensing boards to adopt emergency rules within three days.
- The Supplement calls for expediting or even temporarily waiving the Certificate of Need process to increase the number of healthcare facilities and pharmacies to meet the current needs and anticipated surge.
- The Supplement amends the rules of remote notarization of documents and witnesses, including a requirement that notaries maintain a recording of the videoconference for five years following the date the recoding is noted in the notary’s logbook.
- The Supplement revises rules regarding public meetings.
- The Supplement provides guidance for holding remote shareholder meetings.
- The Supplement calls for release of certain probation and parole violators to reduce the number of local inmates being held.
The most recent change before the Governor’s update to the state of emergency order occurred May 1, when Alabama permitted small businesses and retailers to open on a limited basis. The previous change did not permit personal services (nail salons, hair salons, spas) to reopen, nor did it allow restaurants to reopen for on-site service.
Visit our COVID-19 Hub for ongoing updates.