— from Rick Hughes, San Juan County Council —
I’ve had a few questions on why SJC has asked the state to allow the county to move forward on a modified phase 3, here are some of my thoughts.
San Juan County has had the most strict rules in the state with the lodging ban, 24 hour for room turn, mask order, etc. Some … will say great, but no enforcement. I feel like our community did well, most in the lodging business closed down, business prepared to keep their employees and customers safe and I see masks on most people.
We have learned a lot about COVID over the last three months. Our community did a great job isolating, we mostly closed down and we stayed safe.
SJC now has led the state in asymptomatic testing, contact tracing, we have enough test kits to test anyone who has symptoms. SJC is beginning a symptomatic testing for front line workers, on a regularly scheduled basis. There are 10 trained nurses for contact tracing that are on call 24/7, the county trace record is under 24 hours, our first responders have months of PPE and the county has a matched amount in reserve. The county has distributed 15,000 mask to the community and there is guaranteed ICU space at three hospital. SJC staff has backup surge plans and locations.
SJC numbers exceed all the state requirements; the health officer and staff is ready to move forward.
These are not easy decisions and they are not about greed.
I love this community more than anything and I wake up every morning knowing I need to help find a balance between keeping everyone safe and having some kind of an economy.
I accept the fact that every day I will make a decision that someone or many may not like. But I promise to work as hard as possible to keep our community safe and keep a new economy going.
I am so proud of our community, for all the sacrifices, hard work and support for each other.
It’s time to move forward cautiously, be willing to adapt as situations change.
We will be ok, strong together!
Be safe, wash your hands, check on your neighbors, buy local and wear a cool mask!
As always, thank you for the opportunity to serve Orcas Island and San Juan County.
My thoughts are with each and every one of you every day.
The straw-person fallacy of lives or the economy needs to abandoned. It is possible to put lives first and still have a robust economy.
Of course it’s about greed/money, there is literally no other reason to open the islands to tourism, and news flash, you may end up with a lot worse than just people not liking your choice, you may be explaining to grieving relatives why their family members lives were less important than the tourism industry’s bank accounts. You have failed your community.
Maybe we can learn from other island Counties? For example: https://www.civilbeat.org/2020/06/could-new-kauai-proposal-be-a-model-for-bringing-back-tourism/
We could craft something suitable for SJC.
Can we be inspired by other Island Counties? I think we need to reimagine our future county economy, and let tourism emerge within that process. Here are some opinions and news from Hawaii that could help inform what we do.
https://www.civilbeat.org/2020/06/its-prudent-for-hawaii-to-hold-off-on-reopening/
https://www.civilbeat.org/2020/06/this-is-the-moment-to-re-envision-our-new-economy/
https://www.civilbeat.org/2020/06/could-new-kauai-proposal-be-a-model-for-bringing-back-tourism/
Both VRBO and Airbnb are cooperating about abusers in Kauai County:
https://www.civilbeat.org/beat/vrbo-will-help-kauai-bust-illegal-vacation-rentals/
https://www.civilbeat.org/beat/airbnb-agrees-to-drop-illegal-kauai-vacation-rental-listings/
We have an opportunity to work with the chaos we are in to evolve, or . . . . ?
What about the safety of all the servers in restaurants where the customers are not wearing masks? They can’t socially distance. Those servers are your community members. The islands have been doing so well. why put your community residents at risk by opening up to visitors when the numbers are spiking? keep your community safe.
Some of the commenters on Orcas Issues are incredibly callous during this time, and I challenge you all to go find a business owners who are struggling to survive or their workers who depend on them and look them in the face and tell them that they are being greedy for not wanting to go bankrupt and lose all they have worked for while you sit comfortably behind your computer.
It’s very easy to scream at the top of your lungs safety should be the only concern for our County when you have nothing to lose by the economy of the islands being destroyed, safe with your fixed incomes. Folks will not be very safe for long when they are homeless because they cannot afford their rent or mortgages.
It’s also very easy to relentlessly criticize folks who are tasked with making these extremely difficult decisions when you yourself are in charge of nothing and thus immune from all criticism.
Yes, I agree that mainlanders CAN be carriers. So can any of us that go off island to go to Costco, visit a loved one, go to a doctors appointment, etc.
Remember, phase 3 for SJC is a modified phase 3, y’all don’t want the library or museum open? If everyone is careful and business owners enforce “NO MASK, NO ENTRY”, we will be ok and to be frank, we all make our money from the summer tourism more than any other time of the year.
I do understand that we have 30-35% of our population being over 60 years old and I they are in the most danger but again, if everyone follows the rules, enforces the basics of masks and hand sanitation, social distancing, etc. then let’s be smart and forge ahead. That being said we need to ENFORCE THIS, do NOT let people anywhere inside of a business without a mask, it will absolutely not be tolerated.
I get that everyone would rather just stop the ferry from coming to our island but most of us, except the tech bros who live here now, need that summer tourism money. What can we do?
Mr. Hughes,
You, your colleagues and advisory staff have borne the burden of balancing lives, liberties and livelihoods extraordinarily well. You have brought our small county through the first chapter of this odyssey unscathed and for that we should all be grateful.
Unwarranted criticism from those who may have spent a lifetime getting a payroll check and benefits from a secure job have no clue how precarious operating a main street business is. You do, and that’s why your voice on the council is essential to the overall health of our county.
You understand that it’s not about greed, it’s not Econ 101, it’s about organic commerce on main street, about finding and meeting others needs and in the process earning your own way. It’s about growing an enterprise and offering job opportunities. And through it all every penny must be earned to pay the rent, insurance, taxes, utilities and yes, payroll checks and benefits. With no commerce that all stops – empty storefronts on main street, unemployed friends and neighbors unable to earn their own way.
Loss of susceptible lives to this very selective contagion is inevitable and regrettable. It will impact our county, but you and the rest of our leaders cannot be paralyzed by fear. It is your unenviable task to continually seek the balance you have thus far achieved.
Thank you for your untiring efforts on behalf of a small community that cannot afford to leave anyone behind.
Thanks to Rick Hughes for this outreach. It’s a difficult decision which is unpopular with some, and I appreciate the detailed explanation of why SJC thinks the decision is sound.
I agree with Phil and Paula. I had a conversation earlier today with an Eastsound business owner whose business is going belly up because of the lockdown. There are empty store fronts in town. Yes, making a living is about money. Not being able to make money contributes to an unhappy life and maybe losing a place to live. Those who are at increased risk from COVID-19 can continue to self isolate while local commerce resumes.
On the same day that SJC voted to ask the state to allow the county to move forward on a modified phase 3, Governor Inslee was looking at Covid-19 increases across the state. His concern resulted in face coverings being made mandatory statewide, indoors and outdoors.
The elderly vulnerable residents of the county truly appreciate the county wide efforts to travel only when essential, observe social distancing and wear facial coverings. Unfortunately visitors to the island do not exhibit the same levels of care. I will cite two instances I personally observed.
After a day of medical appointments in Seattle last Friday, we arrived at the overflowing Anacortes Ferry terminal, and were directed to lanes 17, 18 and 19, the lanes used for vehicles arriving from Canada to line up for Customs and Immigration. These were not the vehicles of county residents returning home after essential travel, they were tourists from counties that do not have Covid-19 under control. A large percentage of those tourists were not wearing facial coverings or observing social distancing. Once the ferry was loaded, an announcement was made for passengers to please stay in their vehicles, which was widely ignored.
The following morning I was in Eastsound and observed a line of customers waiting to go into the Brown Bear Bakery, it was the same story, no social distancing and no face coverings!
Mr Hughes take off your sunglasses and observe the risky tourists that are filling the ferries and coming to the county. My wife had to have a Covid-19 test before her appointments at UW, how many of these tourists from counties where corona virus is spreading again as a result of community spread have been tested for the virus before coming to our shores.
Covid-19 cases are increasing in communities all over the USA as a result of restrictions being relaxed too early, please do not add San Juan County to that growing list of communities. Please protect our vulnerable population.
“Those who are increased risk from COVID-19” is a sizeable portion of the year-round population of the island, alas, so it’s not as simple as “local commerce resumes” or “continue to self isolate”….
Apparently you did not read my Orcas Issues Guest Column from yesterday, Rick, which I emailed to you, Jamie and Bill yesterday evening. Yes, the Orcas Island community has done heroic service — together with Frank James — in containing and possibly eliminating the coronavirus on these beautiful islands. But no, Rick, we absolutely cannot expect such care from visitors, for whom this is supposed to be a vacation from the harsh realities of America, especially the West, where Covid-19 cases are spiking alarmingly.
Did you see the figures I presented, based on the 2018 Visitor Survey? At 50 percent capacity, we can expect 1000 new visitors on Orcas Island PER DAY, and somewhere between 2 and 20 of them will be infectious with the virus, according to DOH figures. If we go to 100 percent capacity, make that 4 and 40 infectious visitors PER DAY.
Now let’s say just one of those infectious visitors is an asymptomatic “superspreader” like the woman who caused the 52 infections at Skagit Valley Chorale last March, leading to two deaths. And that person goes out for dinner at an Eastsound restaurant packed at 75 to 100 percent capacity, where everyone is speaking loudly to be heard. We cannot wear masks and eat or drink at the same time, so a fair number of the others present will come down with the infection that evening.
Before you know it, they have passed the virus to people they meet for more than a few minutes, and we have a serious outbreak on your (and my) beloved Orcas Island. Soon there won’t be enough helicopters to ferry the ailing off Orcas to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Bellingham or Island Hospital in Anacortes. So much for the tourist business in San Juan County.
Why do you think European countries are now barring US travelers? And , for that matter, why is the San Juan County Visitors Bureau encouraging them to come here instead? Think about it, Rick.
The actions of the County Council to move to Phase 3 remind me of the 1711 words of Alexander Pope:
“Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.”
Inspiring message.
But, when Snohomish County officials are speaking publicly about the possibility of moving back to Phase 1, and that current data clearly signals an increased case rate and rate of transmission.
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/snohomish-county-might-move-
back-to-phase-1-if-coronavirus-cases-start-rapidly-climbing/
And Whatcom county is failing to meet three of five metrics for moving to Phase 2: two and half times the target rate of new cases, two and a half times less testing than prescribed, and two and half times higher positive rate than required to move in to Phase 2. (Does this mean they will be forced back in to Phase 1?)
https://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/coronavirus/article243911937.html
It seems horribly short sighted for the County Council, the Visitors Bureau, and some in the business community to continue pushing vigorously to move to Phase 3. Given these setbacks among some of our nearest neighbors, this just does not make sense.
When someone says “it’s not about the money”, it’s about the money.
equesting Phase 3 status from the state after SJC residents sacrificed to keep levels low is unpardonable. Record US daily cases, now pushing 50,000; a doubling in a week. 33 states report either record tolls or appreciably higher numbers. Radically higher numbers in California, Oregon, Idaho, Texas, Arizona, Florida, and Utah. Rising levels in Washington state. Yesterday, at 11AM Eastsound core, license plates from 4 of those states, at least 50% of walkers unmasked or masqueless. Under Inslee guidelines, a county needs adequate medical facilities to deal with a possible outbreak. Is the Orcas Medical Center or the Peace Health hospital on Friday Harbor or the Lopez facility equipped to deal with an outbreak? Who will suffer most from an outbreak – front line working people – those who have put their lives on the line to service Orcas residents since the beginning of the pandemic; – the elderly – frightened and marooned in their homes, depending on friends and family to deliver supplies. Why have ferry schedules been disrupted? According to the WSF newsletter, 100 employees have been unable to work. Why? They are over 60 or have pre-existing conditions. This is a time for fearless leadership, not meritless diatribes. By the way, Rick, you have had my vote in previous elections. In August, nope.
“SJC now has led the state in asymptomatic testing, contact tracing, we have enough test kits to test anyone who has symptoms”
Rick Hughes is either misinformed or..
I have heard case after case of people who are ill and have been denied a virus test.
No wonder SJC Covid cases are so low.
Why did the county council recently opt to quit reading the letters of people who have submitted public comment at the council meetings? The very reason they do so is to make sure their comments are put on the public record, and equally important to ensure that their concerns and their comments are actually heard.
San Juan County Council Agenda
TUESDAY
JUNE 9, 2020
COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING
PUBLIC ACCESS TIME: emails will be distributed, but not read aloud going forward.
8:22 Rick Hughes— “At this point we have public comment access time. Ingrid, we’ve decided not to read emails, comments will be distributed to council and put on record.”
Local vacation getaways within driving range are developing as new hotspots. Look up Myrtle Beach SC. One of many that would be clear corollary examples. Relying on contact tracing and visitors to care as much as residents when the visitors are only here for a short time is delusional at best. Ferry service is already suffering and the availability for islanders to come and go even for truly essential travel is being shared with vacationers. Wear a cool mask – that should take care of any concerns or issues.
In listening to the audio of the county meetings one gets the idea that SJC has an ample stockpile of PPE, and testing equipment, and emergency funds.
In reaching out to our local health care providers in a futile attempt to get a CV-19 test (something that residents of our neighboring counties are able to do… free of charge), it becomes apparent that SJC does not have this ability.
When will I, as a full-time resident of SJC be able to get a swab test?
Relaxation of some Phase 2 requirements will NOT necessarily mean that all local businesses will push the new Phase 3 limits. Our store’s “max occupancy” will not change, and several other business owners have told me they will be very cautious (after all, most Orcas business owners are also front line workers).
Let’s all move forward INTELLIGENTLY! Let’s learn from the sad experiences in Texas, Arizona and other states where relaxed restrictions seem to have caused people to forget the basics: wear masks, wash hands frequently, observe the 6′ rule – and keep your distance from those who break those rules.
County leadership has been dealing with a no-win situation. They have implemented some of the most restrictive policies in the nation. Now they are trusting us to use what we have learned. In the end, it’s up to each of us to stay safe.
https://theorcasonian.com/county-phases-climbing-cases-should-mean-altered-summer-travel-plans-for-most-washingtonians/
Just leaving this here so it is easier for RH to find……
Mr. Hughes,
During last week’s Health and Community Services meeting it was reported that the total number of people tested in the county to date was “1459”. The weekly data count offered to SJC public via the SJC Readiness Dashboard says a total of “1760” tests have been administered. This is a difference of 301 tests. Is this increased amount of testing (300 in one week) possibly due to the loop-testing done following the recent positive cases in the county, or from the addition of Dr. House’s 300 anti-body tests performed in April?
Listening to the audios of recent meetings from both the county council, and Health and Community Services indicates that Dr. House’s 300 anti-body tests have been included (have been added into) the SJC case count. Again, is this the reason for the different numbers? And, if so, which numbers did you send to the state when you applied for upgrading to Phase 3?
As we know, both types of tests have a relatively low reliability rate, but each have their place, (it is what it is). We also know that the state recently ordered to stop mixing the two different sets of test numbers (swab tests / anti-body tests). “The state dashboard was supposed to display negative molecular tests (which detect an active coronavirus infection), but accidentally also included negative antibody tests (which show whether a person has been exposed at some point in the past)”.
Combining the two very different sets of numbers only serves to skew various areas used in calculating data relative to the pandemic… it will inflate the number of negative tests per positive results thereby underestimating the percentage of all test results that are positive. It also undermines accuracy when figuring the percentage of the total population tested, and undermines the ability to track trends that are related to the disease. Again, the state BOH ordered the state to stop doing this… why is SJC doing this?
Also, can you explain why the new ruling by the Univ. of Wa. testing facility mandating that the number of negative test results will no longer be reported to SJC? Lacking these numbers only serves to undermine similar accounting methods as mentioned above.
Thank you for the good things you are doing, and good luck to you on your campaign.
Early on county healthcare providers did about 300 antiGEN tests, the vast majority were done by Dr House. Requested and supported his effort and the effort of Dr Wilson on Lopez as well. A few tests were also done on Orcas by the UW clinic. These tests were all part of an effort to offer testing to asymptomaitc front line workers. All the tests were negative and showed that the physical distancing and other measures were holding and that they were protecting our essential workers throughout the county. Some AntiBODY testing has been done but not enough for the results to provide useful information about how widespread the disease is in our community. We are very grateful to the primary care providers that have done work to make our community safer. Together we as a community can and will limit the spread of this disease. Thank you to the many citizens that have protected others by wearing masks and consistently done the right thing in protecting their neighbors. Thank you. Frank James MD Health Officer San Juan County
From the nation’s leading epidemiologist, Anthony Fauci, yesterday in a Senate committee hearing, “When you have an outbreak in one part of the country, even though in other parts of the country they are doing well, they are still vulnerable.”
On a trip through town and to Island Market, which was it’s usual pre-4th-of-July weekend zoo, saw license plates from OR (5), NV, UT, CO (2), IA, and even VA. Bring it on!
Regarding the comment above we’ve done nowhere near 300 antibody tests at Eventide Health. We’ve done a few of those but in comparison to PCR (antigen testing) it’s a tiny fraction. I have pretty big concerns with how numbers have been reported both here in Washington and nationwide. I have pretty big concerns about quite a few things with this whole event. It’s caused me to lose confidence in a number of things (CDC and others).
I do think opening up is the right thing to do. I think time will bear that out. The fallout otherwise will last much longer than this virus. Rick Hughes (and others locally) have my respect and support (although I don’t think they probably feel the same about me or my practice). These have been challenging times for everyone.
At this point it doesn’t really matter. The Tourist numbers are here for the season and cannot be stopped at this point. Do what you can to protect yourself and influence others where you can. Find a balance with your business and personal life that best suits your risk. Thanks for your honesty and service Rick!
On Wednesday, July 1, the US recorded a daily record number of COVID-19 cases – 52,000. Washington state has sadly joined those states that are reporting record numbers of cases. It is never too late to admit a mistake. Humility is a virtue that rewards. Rick, courageous leadership is needed. We know you care about SJC. Many suspect you have doubts about your decision to lead us into a quick opening. Please reverse course. It is the way to ensure your re-election.
Instead of having a discussion about how to open up our businesses early in spite of the fact that we know it will endanger peoples lives, we should be having a discussion about how to help our businesses stay afloat until we can safely re-open.
One of the ways to help our businesses stay afloat, namely the restaurants we so value, is to order takeout from them, even after reopening. We’ve been doing that intentionally at least once a week since May, when they were closed to indoor service. We will continue to do so this summer, avoiding the dangers I’ve mentioned earlier about indoor dining with potentially infectious tourists in the room.
Note that New York City and California have just reclosed restaurants to indoor dining. Outdoor dining is another matter entirely, and should be encouraged. Eastsound is fortunate to have a large number of restaurants with outdoor tables. Let’s use them!