Idaho governor extends stay-home order through April 30 because of coronavirus
With nearly 1,500 infections confirmed and 39 deaths connected to the coronavirus in the Gem State, Idaho Gov. Brad Little said Wednesday morning that he would not lift the stay-home order that’s been in place for the past three weeks.
The order will be extended through April 30, Little said.
Some businesses that enact curbside, delivery or other services may open between now and April 30.
“Any facility or service (including formerly ‘nonessential’ businesses) can begin to operate via curbside services, drive-in, drive-through pickup, mailed services or delivery services,” according to a post on Little’s Facebook page.
Some businesses, like gardening shops, may be able to take orders from customers and have those customers pick up their items curbside, for example.
Little added that nonessential businesses that are closed should begin creating operational plans to reopen after April 30. Little said businesses should draw up plans that would allow for social distancing between patrons and employees, adequate sanitation, protective covering for employees, a limit on the number of people allowed in a business at a given time and a solution to direct the flow of people.
Those businesses that “simply cannot safely social distance” — such as some bars, dine-in facilities and salons — shouldn’t expect to reopen when the stay-home order expires, according to a press release from Little’s office.
Little said he doesn’t know how many businesses will qualify to be able to reopen in the next two weeks, but he knows some business owners have said they will change their models to offer delivery or curbside options.
“I’ve gotta do what I’ve gotta do for the people of Idaho,” Little said.
He said he is sympathetic to small businesses that have to remain closed, but the stay-home orders should get Idaho to a point where businesses can reopen safely. Little said the state is still trying to wrap its arms around the magnitude of the income replacement programs put in place by the federal government, but he is hopeful those programs will be successful.
“Believe me, no one wants to get Idaho back to work more than me,” Little said.
Essential businesses such as grocery stores, gas stations, health care facilities and banks will remain open.
Little is also requiring travelers who enter the state to self-quarantine for 14 days. That doesn’t apply to residents performing essential services in a neighboring state, Little’s Facebook post states.
He stressed the importance of staying home if residents can, and social distancing when they do have to make necessary runs to grocery stores and other places. He encouraged Idahoans to continue to work from home and to wear masks if they are in public.
Health care capacity is another concern Little addressed. Hospitals aren’t currently overrun, but it is something state officials are trying to prevent. The state is also trying to make sure there is appropriate personal protective equipment for health care providers as the pandemic continues. He said Idaho has adequate PPE supplies at this time.
Little didn’t specify whether schools will stay closed, noting that’s a decision that will be made by the State Board of Education, which is scheduled to meet Thursday.
Little issued stay-home order March 25
Little issued his 21-day stay-home order on March 25 after community spread was confirmed in Ada County. At the time, only about 100 people in Idaho had tested positive for the coronavirus.
That number has grown by more than 1,300 since then. But Idaho has reported just 66 new coronavirus cases in the past four days, out of 1,634 tests (4% positive). New cases peaked with 205 on April 2, and 79% of the state’s confirmed cases are in three counties — Ada, Blaine and Canyon.
Fatalities, meanwhile, have been reported eight of the past nine days, with 39 statewide as of Tuesday evening. Twenty-nine of those deaths have been reported in the past nine days.
In March, Little also signed an “extreme emergency declaration” that gives the state additional tools to slow the spread of the virus. That declaration remains in place, the governor’s office said.
As of Tuesday night, 32 of the state’s 44 counties had confirmed cases of the coronavirus, and there was community spread reported in 13 counties. The Idaho Statesman has kept a daily log of new cases in every county since the first case was confirmed in Idaho on March 13.
In neighboring states, Washington has extended its shelter-in-place order into May, and Oregon’s order doesn’t have a set expiration date.
Although Little didn’t rescind his stay-home order on Wednesday, at least one Idaho mayor said she was ready to act in the event that he did.
Boise Mayor Lauren McLean said at Tuesday’s Boise City Council meeting that she had rescinded her original orders that applied to city residents when the governor made his, but that she would put out new social distancing orders if Little let his order expire without a replacement.
”If anything’s pulled back that we deem not in the best long-term interest of our health or economy in our city, then we’ll add those things back in,” she told the council.
Problems across the state
Over the past month, data involving new cases in Idaho has been problematic. Numbers weren’t always consistent between the health districts and the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, and information about new patients and fatalities was vague.
On Tuesday, Central District Health confirmed the first outbreak in an Ada County nursing home. A woman in her 60s who was a resident at Avamere Transitional Care and Rehabilitation in Boise, a nursing home for senior citizens, died, and more than a dozen other residents and staffers at Avamere have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.
As a whole, Ada County has seen nine coronavirus-related deaths and more than 530 confirmed cases, according to Central District Health.
Blaine County was the state’s first hot spot, with more than 450 confirmed cases and five deaths. A special meeting held by the Blaine County Commission on Saturday ended in a 2-1 vote to extend the county’s restrictive order by one week. The Blaine County order remains in effect until April 19, although there have been encouraging signs in the home of Sun Valley and Ketchum.
Pushback on the stay-home order
Little, a Republican, received some pushback on his stay-home order from state and county officials — largely fellow Republicans — who questioned the constitutionality of the action. Raul Labrador, who lost the gubernatorial election to Little in 2018 and is the chairman of the state Republican Party, sent out a letter Tuesday night stressing the economy and saying it was time to start reopening Idaho.
The Idaho Attorney General’s Office issued an opinion on its website, stating that Little does have the authority to issue the order under the Idaho Constitution and that it would have no trouble defending the order in court.
Idaho Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, who represents Bonner County’s district in the House, asked her constituents to openly defy Little’s order in her official newsletter. Bonner County, as of Tuesday, had four confirmed cases of coronavirus.
Adams County Prosecutor Chris Boyd wrote a letter to Little. Boyd said he cannot in good faith issue citations to those who are out of compliance with the stay-home order. He claimed the order infringed upon residents’ First Amendment rights.
On Tuesday, Boise State Public Radio reported that top Idaho legislators, including House Speaker Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, are also calling on Little to transfer the state’s coronavirus response down to its seven health districts.
Bedke wrote in a letter that the order was “ill advised.”
“Let’s continue informing our citizens about the health risks and then, to the greatest degree possible, let them govern themselves,” he wrote, according to Boise State Public Radio. The report also noted that Bedke warned Little that “the way you exercise legislative powers now will affect how the Legislature views those powers” once it reconvenes in January.
Gov. Little’s response
During the Wednesday press briefing, Little said he is always in communication with elected leaders around the state, and he is keenly aware of areas of the state that, to their knowledge, have no confirmed cases or examples of community spread.
“But because we don’t have enough testing, we are not fully confident in that,” Little said. He added that those places are also areas of concern because those areas have the least amount of health care capacity.
Little said he is concerned with the pushback from elected officials but added that he understood their line of thinking.
“I get it. You know somewhere in my DNA there are some libertarian bones, and that’s my nature,” Little said. “But this particular issue requires an incredible amount of leadership to make these hard decisions to get over this.
“This is what your job is, is to collectively look at the best thing to do for your community, and I’m going to continue to do that.”
This story was originally published April 15, 2020 at 11:10 AM.