County Council anticipates next phase of Coronavirus response

— by Minor Lile, Orcas Issues reporter –

As with each of County Council meetings for the last several weeks, the April 21 meeting began with a Covid-19 update. This week that update was an exploration of how to approach the process of easing the current Covid-19 restrictions at the appropriate time. All those participating in the discussion acknowledged that with so much that is still unknown, there will be significant challenges in striking the right balance between restarting economic activity and protecting public health.

Dr. Frank James, the county health officer, began the discussion by expressing appreciation for the public response to the Covid-19 epidemic in San Juan County. Up to this point, he said, “We’ve ridden the wave like a skilled surfer and we need to continue to ride that wave.” Nevertheless, James said, the community needs to recognize that while it is likely that there will soon be efforts to open things back up, contending with the Covid-19 virus is going to be ‘a long-term proposition’.

Councilmember Jamie Stevens picked up on this point and said that it is his impression that many people are zeroed in on the May 4 date as an end point. He is concerned about people’s disappointment if the Governor’s stay in place orders are extended. Dr. James responded by noting that while it is ultimately up to the Governor to determine what will happen after May 4, at least some of the economic and social restrictions that are currently in place are likely be loosened when the current order comes to an end.  

Dr. James emphasized that prior to any wide scale loosening of the current ‘stay at home’ orders, it will be essential for San Juan County to have certain systems and benchmarks in place These include the availability of adequate testing procedures, the ability to quickly respond to positive test results, the use of face masks in public settings, and continued social distancing.

He especially focused on the continued use of face masks for the foreseeable future. “Wearing masks in public is the socially responsible thing to do. This norm needs to be in place for an extended period of time.” Later he added that, “We have a community that is smart and wearing masks as a social norm.”

He stated that in his view the loosening of the economic and social restrictions that are in place needs to be a gradual process. It would be a mistake, he said, ‘to open everything up all at the same time.’ He said that here in the San Juan Islands, farming and construction-related work are economic activities that more easily lend themselves to an initial loosening of restrictions than tourism does. “Tourism,” he said, “is the hard nut to crack” He suggested that one possibility for relaxing the current ban on the non-essential use of transient accommodations might be to initially limit activity to those properties that are self-contained, such as a vacation rental with its own kitchen and laundry facilities.

Later in the discussion, Mark Tompkins, the Director of Health and Community Services, commented on the social distancing measures that are currently in effect. He said it seems probable that the Governor will continue to require those with underlying health conditions or over the age of 65 to shelter in place. Tompkins noted that this is a particularly significant matter in San Juan County, with its high percentage of citizens who fall into that age group.

Throughout the discussion, Councilmember Rick Hughes kept returning to the idea that it is time to begin preparing a plan for the next phase of responding to the challenges brought by the Covid-19 outbreak. As he said at one point, “we need to communicate to the public what we think the path forward looks like.”

Towards this end, Councilmembers agreed that they hoped to be able to review the beginnings of a draft plan by next week’s Council meeting. Dr. James said he looked forward to working closely with the Council on this, but cautioned that given the lack of certainty on so many aspects of the situation, there is still a lot to do and consider before a precise plan can be completed and released to the public.