City and Borough of Juneau Assembly so far has gone along with Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s plan for reopening the state, but officials have concerns about preparations for the next phase of the plan.
That’s because the governor’s office hasn’t yet released details regarding the next phase, and it’s publicly mentioned start date is quickly approaching.
“He said some things are happening May 8, but we haven’t heard what’s happening May 8,” Mayor Beth Weldon said Monday at a virtual Assembly meeting.
City Manager Rorie Watt said he has received no communication from the governor’s office about what businesses might be opened next.
“The administration is still in the process of reviewing the analytics from phase one while preparing the second phase of reopening the economy,” Dunleavy spokesperson Jeff Turner wrote in an email. “At this time phase two is expected to address fitness centers, entertainment facilities, bars and day care facilities.”
The first phase of Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s plan to reopen allowed businesses, including restaurants and hairdressers, to reopen. The next phase could include bars and gyms among others, but cities are waiting to hear details of what the next phase will entail. (Peter Segall | Juneau Empire)
Juneau is in good shape in terms of its testing capacity and health care services, Deputy City Manager Mila Cosgrove told Assembly members. Cosgrove also runs the city’s Emergency Operations Center and said testing numbers had recently gone down in Juneau, she said, not due to lack of supplies but due to a lack of symptomatic people.
Bartlett Regional Hospital announced Tuesday it had a limited capacity to complete tests with 24 hours. Testing available through the city or a private health care provider generally takes at least 48 hours for results.
The city remained at Incident Level 2 on the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Incident Management System, according to Cosgrove.
Level 2 means, “the disease is present in the community but it is properly contained,” Cosgrove said. “The medical system has capacity to deal with rising medical needs and that the supply chain is operational. All of those things are present today.”
But there’s worry that once the state starts opening up, particularly to travel from the Lower 48, there might be a resurgence of COVID-19.
“I don’t think it’s a good time,” said Assembly member Rob Edwardson. “We have an increasing number of travelers coming both by water and by air, as more people show up there’s a higher potential that sick people are going to show up.”
Other cities in Southeast Alaska which depend on tourism for their economy are also worried. Pelican Mayor Walt Weller said his community’s main income is from the summer fishing season, when sport fishers and fish processors come to town.
[Storms loom for Juneau’s economy]
“So much of what we do out here depends on travelers,” Weller said Tuesday in a phone interview. “Some of these folks have been to half the states, how do you control where they’ve been?”
Businesses in Pelican are trying to find ways to accommodate, Weller said, but interstate travel to Alaska currently requires a 14-day quarantine. The state is allowing tour operators to quarantine customers in their own facilities such as hunting lodges or boats, according to Weller.
Weller summed up his feelings about trying to reopen the state during a pandemic: “Absolutely necessary and dangerous as all hell.”
The mandate ordering self-quarantine for interstate travelers is set to expire May 19, but some in Juneau aren’t so sure the city will be ready for that.
“Coming up with travel we may or may not follow the governor’s lead on that,” Weldon said at the Assembly meeting. “I would think that if he’s going to lift the restriction on quarantine on May 19, I would be surprised that we are willing to do that then.”
• Contact reporter Peter Segall at psegall@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @SegallJnoEmpire.
