UPDATE: At 4 p.m. Friday, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey issued a stay-at-home order for the state.

Governors in every state surrounding Alabama, and now Alabama itself, have issued executive orders requiring people in that state to shelter in place, leaving their homes only when needed or to provide essential services for others.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, leading medical advisor for the White House, said every state should issue an order. As of Friday morning, 38 states had done so, and Alabama followed suit later that day.

Gov. Kay Ivey had asked Alabamians to stay home as much as possible, but resisted calls to make that an order until Friday. Ivey’s order places additional limits on retail stores, religious services, and personal activities.

Those shelter-in-place orders, while sounding similar, work differently in each state, setting different limits and exceptions. AL.com examined the orders in the states surrounding Alabama to see how those orders are being applied in the region.

What’s essential anyway?

The five states – Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi and Florida -- all order residents to shelter in place or stay at home, unless performing “essential services” or working on “critical infrastructure.” This would cover things like grocery shopping and buying food or other supplies. It also allows store workers, delivery drivers and other personnel to keep food on the shelves.

The orders allow for businesses that are closed to perform the minimum scope of work required to prevent damage to their properties, facilities or inventory.

Many of the lists of essential services and critical infrastructure are taken from guidance issued in March by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Florida and Georgia cite that list directly, while Mississippi and Tennessee’s lists are similar.

You can’t visit anyone in Georgia, but you can sell them a gun

Nearly all states’ shelter-in-place orders prohibit gatherings of more than 10 people, or where they cannot maintain a six-foot social distance, but Georgia’s order signed Thursday by Gov. Brian Kemp, goes a step further, explicitly stating that its residents “shall not receive visitors.”

There are a handful of exceptions to this provision, including people providing health care or emergency services, people delivering food or other essential supplies or services, or during end of life circumstances. The order further states that visitors for those allowed purposes should maintain a six-foot social distance wherever possible and people delivering supplies should not have in-person contact, or enter the home unless needed.

The next section of the order specifies that the visitation rules “shall be strictly enforced” in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.

Though it does not specifically declare firearms or ammunition to be essential supplies, the order does state that “nothing in this Order shall be construed to suspend or limit the sale, dispensing, or transportation of firearms or ammunition, or any component thereof.”

So if you want to visit your next door neighbor in Alpharetta, it might be safer to hand them a box of bullets on your way out.

Alabama’s order allows people to visit the homes of people they are related to.

Tennessee changed one word from its previous order

Tennessee on Thursday joined the list of states issuing “shelter in place” orders by changing one word from its previous recommendation aimed at slowing the spread of coronavirus.

Gov. Bill Lee signed a new order Thursday that was a single paragraph in length, replacing the first paragraph of the state’s existing order, changing “all persons in Tennessee are urged to stay at home,” to “all persons in Tennessee are required to stay at home.”

The rest of the previous Tennessee order remains in place, ordering non-essential businesses to be closed and defining “essential activities,” “essential travel,” and “critical infrastructure” which will continue to operate while incorporating social distancing as much as possible. Alabama has issued a similar order limiting non-essential businesses.

Lee told local media in Tennessee that he had issued the new order in response to cell phone and traffic data that showed Tennesseeans were still traveling a lot, but had been facing pressure from former U.S. Sen. Bill Frist and others to move to “shelter in pace.”

Exceptions for religious gatherings

The shelter in place orders for Alabama, Florida and Tennessee explicitly allow for religious gatherings under some circumstances.

Alabama’s order allows religious services, but only if they are limited to 10 people or less and can maintain a six-foot social distance, or are conducted as “drive-in” services where people attending do not leave their vehicles or come within six feet of other attendees.

The Tennessee order lists under the allowed essential activities “Visiting a place of worship or attending a wedding or funeral; provided, that the Health Guidelines are followed to the greatest extent practicable.”

Florida also defines religious services as essential activities, without mentioning health guidelines or social distancing at all. The order lists “Attending religious services conducted in churches, synagogues and houses of worship,” under its allowed activities with no further caveats.

No parks or evictions in Mississippi

The Mississippi order closes all parks, lakes and beaches, but not walking trails. Outdoor exercise and recreation is usually allowed under shelter in place in Mississippi and elsewhere, but parks and beaches can become overcrowded making social distancing difficult.

Mississippi also suspended all eviction proceedings in the state, but noted that the postponement of evictions did not remove the obligation to pay rent or mortgages.

Florida issued a separate executive order suspending evictions on Thursday, and Alabama did the same on Friday.

Who enforces the orders?

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said violations of the order would be Class C misdemeanors that could be enforced by local law enforcement.

In Georgia, violating the order is a misdemeanor, though it does not specify penalties or which law enforcement can enforce the order. The order also states that “officials enforcing this order should take reasonable steps to provide notice prior to issuing a citation or making an arrest.”

The Mississippi order says state, county and local law enforcement can enforce the shelter in place order, as well as “other governmental entities” like the state and local health departments.

The Tennessee and Florida orders do not include details on enforcement.

Can cities be more restrictive?

Alabama State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris said Alabama’s state order superceded restrictions enacted by local health departments in the state, but municipalities did have the authority to implement more restrictive measures if needed.

Tennessee and Mississippi explicitly allow local governments from cities or counties to enact orders that are more restrictive than the statewide policies, if necessary, to contain the spread of COVID-19.

Not so in Georgia, where the state’s order suspends enforcement of previous local ordinances and states “no county or municipality shall adopt any similar ordinance or order while this Order is in effect.”

Florida’s initial order did not specifically address local measures, but later issued a clarification, saying that the state order superceded any local actions.

Local orders in Alabama

Some cities or counties in Alabama, including Birmingham, Tuscaloosa and Montgomery, have tacked on curfews to help slow the spread of coronavirus.

Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson said that Mobile and other cities are still working through exactly what these provisions would do and how they are different from orders already in place closing non-essential businesses and limiting gatherings.

"One of the things very apparent is there are a lot of definitions of ‘shelter in place,’” Stimpson said. “That’s something we're (not only) trying to define for our city, but the state of Alabama.

“Some of the other states announcing shelter in place were catching up with Alabama. Hopefully there will be some clarification. In some places, shelter in place is misleading. In your mind, you’re thinking that everyone is staying home. That’s not the case. There is nowhere that everyone is staying at home."