The Sewerage & Water Board announced Thursday it would suspend shutoffs to customers who do not pay their bills while the coronavirus is spreading through the New Orleans area.

The public utility will also begin restoring service to the roughly 9,000 households whose service is shut off, the S&WB said in a news release.

Entergy New Orleans also announced Thursday that it will not disconnect customers who are unable to pay the bill as a "result of the COVID-19 virus" for at least 30 days.

Ochsner Health hospital opens 3 coronavirus test sites in Southeast Louisiana; see locations Ochsner Health System is designating three urgent care locations for testing for the new coronavirus, the hospital system said Thursday.

The decision to suspend shutoffs came just hours after the City Council called on the S&WB, Entergy New Orleans and telecommunications providers such as Cox Communications to keep providing service in the interest of public health.

“At the core of our mission is to keep New Orleans safe and healthy,” S&WB Executive Director Ghassan Korban said in the news release. “Washing your hands and keeping clean is a first line of defense against coronavirus, and so we want to ensure all our residents have access to clean water.”

The request that utilities continue providing service is crucial particularly in New Orleans, given that the city's large hospitality industry is expected to take a huge financial hit as people cancel vacations and other travel plans, said Councilman Jay H. Banks, who spearheaded the council's request.

"The fact is we are going to be affected by this pandemic in ways that many other communities may not be," Banks said. "A tremendous amount of our residents work in the hospitality industry. If travel dries up, they aren’t going to be able to work, and if they can’t work, how are they going to pay their bills? There's already enough pressure on people worrying about their health and how are they going to get their children fed" without worrying about their utility bills.

The call to suspend shutoffs received unanimous approval from the council's Utilities Committee on Thursday.

The S&WB's policy will remain in effect as long as the city is under the state of emergency declared by Mayor LaToya Cantrell on Wednesday, the utility said.

In an email, Entergy New Orleans spokeswoman Lee Sabatini said the electric company's policy will cover anyone impacted by the virus, not just those who actually become sick. More details about how that policy will work will be released in the coming days, she said.

"We are going to be working with each and every customer that needs our assistance," Sabatini said.

A Cox representative said the utility was still working on a response to questions about the council's request on Thursday night.

“We are aware of the council’s request and it is under consideration," Sharon Truxillo said. "We hope to have a response shortly.”

Shutoffs at the S&WB became a flashpoint in 2018 when the utility lifted a seven-month moratorium on the practice that had been put in place while it attempted to deal with billing system problems. Those problems had caused many customers to receive highly inflated bills.

Attention has returned to the shutoffs as the city grapples with the coronavirus outbreak. A total of 19 people in Louisiana have tested presumptively positive for the virus, 15 of them in New Orleans.

The outbreak has also sparked calls from hospitality workers in the city for government action to require employers to provide paid sick leave, which is usually not available in service industry jobs, to help prevent the spread of the virus. And it has raised fears about the financial hit many workers will take if tourism dries up.

Most of those issues, however, are outside of the hands of the City Council due to state laws that limit the requirements municipalities can impose on private employers.

"I would love to be able to say no one should miss a paycheck during this incident," Banks said. "Unfortunately, we don’t have the power to do that. I hope that the employers will do it out of the goodness of their hearts."

Banks said the council's requests are designed to make sure people are not cut off from crucial services.

"We’ve got universities that are telling kids they have to go online. If your internet is cut off, how do you do that?" Banks said. "We've got warnings saying that you have to wash your hands; how do you do that without water? And if your electricity’s cut off, how do you get information? You can’t get the latest information if you’ve got no electricity.

"These are all critical. They’re not luxuries; they’re public safety issues," Banks said.

Editor's note: This story was updated on March 12, 2020 to add in additional comments from Entergy New Orleans and Cox Communications.

MORE COVERAGE:

Louisiana coronavirus presumptive cases increase to 14, LDH says The Department of Health is reporting another presumptive case coronavirus in the state, bringing the total number of illnesses in Louisiana t…

Jefferson Parish declares state of emergency due to coronavirus concerns Jefferson Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng has declared a state of emergency to improve the parish's response to the rapidly spreading coronavirus.

March Madness, College World Series and all remaining NCAA tournaments canceled due to coronavirus The NCAA has canceled its remaining winter and spring championships for men's and women's athletics due to the continued spread of the coronav…

Louisiana churches consider canceling weekend services amid coronavirus fears The head of the Louisiana's United Methodist Conference is calling for Methodist churches to postpone large group gatherings, including some S…

Coronavirus in New Orleans: See list of events canceled, rescheduled so far As of Thursday morning, officials had identified 13 presumptive positive cases of coronavirus in the Greater New Orleans area, and the count i…

“We are aware of the Council’s request and it is under consideration. We hope to have a response shortly.”