Oxford’s Board of Aldermen decided to strengthen the city’s COVID-19 mandate as the total number of active cases rises in Oxford.

Jimmy Allgood, the City’s Emergency Management Coordinator, reported that Lafayette County had 102 active cases of COVID-19 among residents with 34 active cases being among non-residents who were living in Oxford temporarily but had a main residence outside of the county or state. Many of the cases involved people between the ages of 18 to 29 years old.

It is because of these numbers board voted 4-3 in favor of closing indoor and outdoor dining and bar areas of restaurants at 10 p.m. Kitchens at these businesses can continue to serve food after 10 p.m., so long as it is pick-up or curbside.

The board also decided to decrease social gatherings to a total of 10 people indoors and 20 people outdoors if social distancing can be achieved. These changes do not apply to occupancies in businesses, only social gatherings.

Also included in the latest version of the Serving Oxford Safely ordinance is an update to the City’s mask policy: people have to wear a mask both inside and outside where six feet of distance isn’t possible, to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

These new rules will go into effect on Friday, July 17 at 8 a.m.