— from Joe Symons —
Jay Inslee’s Stay Safe Order of 4 May 2020, references four phases for restoring the economic and social life of Washington residents. As you know, we are currently in Phase 1.
The official order, as shown at the above link, has a chart indicating the four phases. That chart has been replaced: the revised chart is available HERE.
One of the revisions is on the description (see the Travel row) of Phase 2, to wit: “Limited non-essential travel within proximity of your home.”
This Phase 2 travel recommendation was used by a group of island-based lodging facilities to request that you consider asking for a waiver to move SJC from Phase 1 to Phase 2 in a letter (herinafter “Letter”) to have been delivered to you Tuesday 5 May as part of the testimony before Council. Their request suggests that, if the waiver were requested, their businesses would employ enhanced cleaning standards.
Dr. Frank James signed an Order, 2020-3, on 2 May 2020, which specifies the following behavior regarding transient accommodations:
- 3. Transient Accommodations. Owners and operators of transient accommodations or campground and camping facilities located in San Juan County, as defined in San Juan County Code Chapter 18.20, shall provide such accommodations or facilities only to persons for whom such accommodations or facilities are required (1) to conduct or participate in essential activities, (2) for employment in essential business services, or (3) for any other purposes authorized by Statewide Orders, such as employment in certain construction or outdoor recreation businesses. Notwithstanding any contrary provision of this order, owners and operators of transient accommodations or campground and camping facilities located in San Juan County shall not provide accommodations for purposes of recreation, leisure, or sightseeing.
The Letter does not address short term transient lodging facilities such as those operating in SJC with a Vacation Rental Permit (VRP). It’s request for a waiver, absent any specification as to what facilities might be permitted and which ones might be excluded, would have to be interpreted to mean that such a waiver, if granted, would apply to all transient accommodations regardless of location, owner, licensing (and related regulations), size, ease of fulfilling the enhanced sanitation requirements that were proposed, or enforcement.
Given the clear science-based guidelines that Dr. James has written about in earlier declarations, and given the specific language used in the 2020-3 Order, to wit:
- WHEREAS, San Juan County has a large number of transient accommodations and overnight moorage facilities which are often used for overnight stays associated with non- essential travel;
- WHEREAS, based on the current status of response to the pandemic both in San Juan County and statewide, inadequate testing capacity and availability and inadequate case and contact investigation capacity is presently available to appropriately provide for the public health, which inadequacy will be magnified and potentially lead to dangerous outbreaks of COVID-19 if large numbers of people travel in and out of San Juan County for non-essential stays such as tourist activities;
I strongly urge you to not apply for a waiver to move SJC from Phase 1 to Phase 2. Our so-far low apparent infection rate may have been achieved due to significant public participation in the fundamentals of curve flattening and by the dramatically reduced exposure of locals to off-island travelers. We actually do not know what our infection rate is since we have, as noted, inadquate testing. Anecdotal and clinical evidence reveals that the infections we have logged are due to off-island travelers bringing the virus with them.
Even the request to move to Phase 2 would not justify off island travelers from coming here: As noted above, the Phase 2 travel restriction reads “Limited non-essential travel within proximity of your home.” It would be a major credulity stretch to claim that the San Juans are “within the proximity of” any mainlander’s home. Given that the Governor’s order specifically addresses extra care for “high risk” populations, one category of which is age, and given that over half of the residents of SJC are considered seniors (age 60+), many with pre-existing conditions, any decision to loosen, rather than strengthen, restrictions on out-of-county travelers runs counter to logic, expressed preferences, and science-based guidelines.
Given the just-released study that a new strain of the virus may be more contagious than what is going around now, it is even more important to proceed with extreme caution.
Don’t let the local tourist industry sway a wise plan. Maintain the course.
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Let’s see….cleaner air, fewer tourists, far less oil use and no burgers at Wendy’s. All ancillary benefits of the bug.
Alleluia! More stimulus, more socialism. less fear. Please.
An article in this morning’s briefing in the Seattle Times reports
epidemiologists think a second wave of virus infections will be worse than the first due to early lessening of social distancing. The article also says the second wave of the Spanish Flu killed more people than the first due to a false sense that it had passed. We need to be vigilant to protect the health of our communities. A second wave of the virus would be even more devastating to the economy than the first.
Nicely said, Joe.
Thank you for the reasoned approach, Joe. I concur. Now is not the time to let our guard down.
A contrarian view: I’ve read the details of the Governor’s phases one and two, and don’t find anything in the latter that would be particularly risky for the San Juans. Moving into Phase 2 would not keep us one step above the rest of the state; we, like other counties, would have to comply with the qualifications for Phase 3. So yes, just because we can doesn’t mean we always should. But in this case I find virtually nothing in the Phase 2 description that worries me.
Though things continue to be tough all-around, and there are still as many unknowns as there are knowns in relation to this virus we must not forget that the reasoning behind why each phase of the re-opening is 3 weeks in duration is based on the best available medical science… our numbers are low, let’s keep it that way. Stay the course.
SJC, labor unions, and various trade group’s continued efforts to rush the re-opening schedule for purely economic reasons when there is both inadequate testing, and no vaccine available is grossly inconsistent with a Health first approach.