Idaho Gov. Brad Little is blowing it with his response to our coronavirus outbreak
Idaho Gov. Brad Little’s lackluster response to the coronavirus outbreak is inadequate, dangerous and likely will cost some of his constituents their lives.
With few confirmed cases and a seemingly low spread of COVID-19, Idaho had a golden opportunity to lead the nation and take proactive preventative measures to “flatten the curve” and stem the rise in cases in this crisis. We could have been a model for how to handle the outbreak and have the fewest cases of coronavirus in the country.
Instead, after Little’s Monday press conference, we appear, yet again, to head to the bottom of the list.
We were hopeful that Little would announce more stringent measures, such as those being taken by other states’ governors, including Oregon and Washington right next door, and by Boise Mayor Lauren McLean.
We were looking for a strong response from the governor, but what did we get instead? The deadline to file taxes got pushed back.
We were sorely disappointed and, frankly, are concerned that such an unemphatic response will lead to a full-blown outbreak in Idaho, resulting in an overwhelmed health care system and, ultimately, what could have been preventable deaths.
To date, Little’s position has been a typical Idaho approach to dealing with a problem. God forbid that we should use the heavy hand of government to stop this thing. And make no mistake, that’s what it’s going to take. It’s time for forceful and aggressive leadership from the governor. Leaving it up to individual cities, counties and districts is woefully inadequate.
We’ve seen restaurants and bars continue to be patronized, despite the warnings. Allowing one city to shut down its businesses while the next city over continues to do business as usual defeats the entire purpose of a shutdown. It just won’t work unless everyone does it. That’s where the state needs to step in and recognize the emergency for what it truly is — an emergency.
Nothing speaks to the state’s inadequate handling of the situation louder than its posting of numbers for confirmed cases. The state posted Monday that Idaho has 50 confirmed cases of coronavirus, when we know that the number is 77 due to local health district reports.
If the state doesn’t even know the exact count of coronavirus cases, how can it be expected to respond to the situation? How can Idahoans trust the governor and officials to make informed decisions? Flattening the curve requires knowing what the curve is looking like at any given time.
An example of an informed decision would be to order all residents to stay at home, as Oregon Gov. Kate Brown did Monday. Oregon also issued a no-travel order Monday and is completely shut down for 14 days. Also next door, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Monday issued a two-week stay-at-home order. An informed decision would be to order the shutdown of dining in for all bars and restaurants, as McLean did last week for Bosie.
The Republican governor of Indiana, Eric Holcomb, on Monday ordered all state residents to stay at home for the next two weeks. Indiana also delayed its primary election by nearly a month, ordered all schools to remain closed until at least May 1, banned public gatherings of more than 50 people and directed restaurants to close to all but pickup and carryout business. Statewide. Not just if one city wanted to do it or not. That’s statewide.
Governors all across the country are ordering residents to shelter in place and shutting down all gathering places. Not Idaho.
The trope making the rounds this week, and we expect to see it pick up steam, is that killing the economy is worse than suffering a pandemic. Baloney. We will rebound economically, but somehow accepting the eventuality of people dying and getting sick unnecessarily because we couldn’t shelter in place for a few weeks is beyond comprehension.
It is irresponsible nonsense.
Is our governor testing out a theory that Idaho will suffer through a pandemic but our businesses will still be open throughout it?
This is not a reasonable strategy.
When asked at Monday’s press conference about closing restaurants’ dine-in services, Little responded, “If we have an area where there’s a big risk, that’s the proper thing.”
In what areas of the state is there not a big risk? There are cases in Bingham, Teton and Valley counties, which aren’t exactly teeming with people. What parts of the state are free from risk? Folks are “escaping” from highly populated areas to less-populated places, like Stanley, and these places are begging people to behave properly as they overrun their towns. McCall asked visitors to stay away, as did Owyhee County.
Again, are we just waiting to take action only until there’s an outbreak? By then, it will be too late. Due to limited testing, we don’t know the extent of community spread and whether the virus is already circulating in every corner of the state. Little said originally that he was going to wait to take further action until we had community spread. We have it.
The State Board of Education took action on schools, closing them all through April 20. It seems that what Little would like to do is not make tough decisions himself, and instead rely on someone else to do it. He almost seems to be banking that the measures being taken in the state’s populated areas will be enough to slow the virus, without him showing that “heavy hand of government.”
While 163 million people in 17 states, 14 counties and eight cities, according to the New York Times, have ordered residents to shelter in place, Gov. Little, who at age 66 is in the demographic of people at risk from coronavirus, was traveling the state visiting public health districts across Idaho, putting himself at risk. As the state’s top executive officer, he’s jeopardizing the smooth operation of state government.
We’ve said it before and it’s worth repeating, this time more forcefully: The time for careful, measured response is over. The time to shut things down is now.
Gov. Little, please don’t let Idaho be the example of how not to handle the coronavirus. Let’s make the mistake of being overly cautious. Even Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said he would rather be blamed for being overly aggressive. The stakes are too high and the consequences are too dire. Lives are at stake. How we respond is your responsibility.
This story was originally published March 24, 2020 at 10:37 AM.