— from Walt Corbin —
Of all the communities that could shelter from the virus is Orcas and the other islands.
I have been delayed getting back home because of the virus but I was astounded to hear that daily dozens of workers on the OPAL project and the renovation at the Market are not only working shoulder to shoulder but come and go off island with no thought to their spreading the virus and perhaps the unforeseen death of an Island resident. This is shamefully short sighted.
Workers working on the Island should shelter on the Island. If they can’t do that then they must be tested before starting work every day. Apparently everyone involved with these projects is rightly concerned with delays in completion and its cost. However, what is happening is insane and county officials that are suppose to be protecting their constituents should be brought to task for their dereliction of duty.
Are these projects more important than the deaths of Island residents? Walter Corbin, alive and kicking in Florida.
April’s Grove was considered essential as affordable housing and therefore allowed to proceed. Other residential construction is not allowed but may be one of the first occupations to be allowed
when self isolation requirements ease up but we don’t know when.
It will be up to general contractors/management to adopt safe working conditions.
Gregory and Walt…I was wondering about this, but it is my understanding that only residential construction is supposed to be closed down in Washington State. Construction related to providing essential services is allowed under the guidelines. While it might be nice to pull up the drawbridge and stay isolated, there are many ways that the virus can (and have) found its way to Orcas. The ferries are still running, planes are still arriving at Port Orcas, supplies are still being delivered to the island and people still need to go to the mainland for medical treatment. Practically speaking, none of these can require testing and quarantine. We are an island in name only.
Asking imported labor (we need more trades-trained inhabitants here!) to pay for their own housing in this expensive locality is asking a bit much, I think. If the work is deemed by responsible authorities to be essential, we either take the risk inherent with commuting labor, or pay for labor’s housing here. I think you see where I’m gong here …
It’s interesting, and perhaps relevant, that Orcas Island has by far the greatest per-capita number of positive Covid-19 tests, 178 per 100,000 (using 4500 as the number of year-round residents), as compared with the other ferry-served islands. Perhaps this is why.
One should ask whether any of the April’s Grove laborers have come down with the disease.
Bill, it is ‘normal’ thinking to try to assign responsibility for a difficult problem to someone or something as we try to find solutions. However, it is not helpful nor logical to point a finger unless there are facts to back it up. Contact TRACING is vital in determining where, and from who, a virus comes from. Unless an ‘infected carrier’ is known fact, it is pointless to point a finger at anyone/any group…and may serve to divide us from cooperative management of the problem.