The City of Seward, which normally fills with visitors by July 4, has passed a face-covering rule and other temporary restrictions to stop a coronavirus outbreak.
On Wednesday night, the city council unanimously approved emergency regulations that require facial covering in indoor public spaces, prohibit large gatherings, and limit capacity in businesses and churches. The city is also halving recreational camping capacity at popular Resurrection Bay camps.
Seward is experiencing a sudden jump in new daily COVID-19 case counts, at least some of them associated with downtown bars, as confirmed positive cases are also on the rise across the state.
Since the start of the pandemic, 29 Seward residents and six non-residents have tested positive for COVID-19, according to state data. Of the total of 35 cases, six were reported by the state on Thursday. Until the outbreak that started on June 21, Seward had few cases of the virus: three residents tested positive between March and early June.
Local authorities canceled all holiday events this week. More than a dozen downtown businesses voluntarily closed their doors with plans to keep them closed over the holiday weekend.
On Wednesday night, the city council passed an emergency regulation on facial linings, requiring people to cover their noses and mouths “in buildings open to the public when they cannot maintain six feet of space between themselves and people outside your home. “
The order exempts children ages 4 and under, people with breathing problems, and those with medical conditions that prevent them from covering their faces.
People can remove the masks to eat and drink, but must wear them in other ways, such as when entering or leaving an establishment, authorities say. They do not have to use them while “receiving legal services that cannot be properly performed while the recipient is wearing a face covering,” the regulation states.
The council enacted another emergency regulation that limits all city-owned camps to half the capacity for recreational camping (the city will not accept reservations beyond that level), but said the camps are still open for use. of workers and employees in the Seward area.
The city’s waterfront camp is roughly half capacity now, according to city secretary Brenda Ballou. Another is almost full, and a third has 30 of 36 spaces occupied, Ballou said. The city will allow those campers to stay, but will not accept new bookings of more than 50% capacity after that. It was not immediately clear how many city workers are camping.
Restaurants, bars, wildlife and sightseeing cruises, retail stores, and churches should limit indoor seating to 10 people or no more than half capacity, whichever is greater.
Another regulation prohibits meetings of 20 or more people, excluding legal meetings under the seating capacity rule or for the “purpose of exercising constitutional rights.”
The restrictions are in effect for 30 days.
Several officials, including Mayor Christy Terry, defended the steps to avoid a global closure.
At this stage of the pandemic, there are no easy answers to dealing with COVID-19, Dr. Anne Zink, the state’s chief medical officer, told the council.
“The easy decisions have been made and the difficult ones are now here,” Zink said, calling the virus “incredibly contagious” and humiliating in the speed of its spread. “It is important to remember that it takes a while to see those effects in the hospital and in hospitalized patients.”
The council met in a special session on Thursday. The mayor personally read 46 written comments on the record, taking some over the phone.
Some residents begged the council to protect the health of the community, or condemned them for not doing so sooner. Others criticized any attempt to demand facial covers and restrict companies. Some noted that, despite the sudden jump in local cases, they had not heard reports of serious COVID-19 related illnesses in the community.
Jennifer Appel told the council that the masks breed germs, that the increasing count in Seward was due only to the fact that many people were being tested and that Americans should be free to choose their own risk levels and make their own decisions. .
“Who gave the government power over the churches, power over our personal lives?” Appel testified. “They want to make us fear everyone else in the name of security.”
Tim Mullet told the council that they did not enact policies restricting high-risk activities soon enough.
“You are a disappointment,” Mullet declared. “This is your fault. His decisions have made this outbreak possible.”
Seward is an autonomous city formed by a voter-backed statute that gives officials the ability to adopt powers without restrictions, except those restricted by the state, according to Nils Andreassen, executive director of the Alaska Municipal League. Other municipal governments are municipalities under general law whose powers are limited to what the state allows.
Anchorage and Palmer are autonomous governments, said Andreassen. Most Alaska municipalities, including Homer and Wasilla, are not.
“That is why there are so many questions around this issue,” he said, referring to the local ability to demand facial covers.
The first cases of Seward associated with the outbreak emerged last week. Authorities recommended tests for anyone who has frequented two local establishments, the Seward Alehouse and the Yukon Bar, earlier last week.
Bars are “very high-risk situations,” state epidemiologist Joe McLaughlin told the council on Wednesday. People drink and stop distancing themselves socially, and often sit together. If it is a small bar and people are singing, the risk of infection increases.
A large tour operator on the boardwalk temporarily closed this week after two employees tested positive for COVID-19.
Kenai Fjords Tours, one of several companies offering glacier and wildlife cruises off the coast of Resurrection Bay, temporarily suspended operations due to confirmed cases in two employees. The company expects to reopen on July 10.
Kenai Fjords Tours recommends that anyone who has cruised last week contact local health care providers and monitor for symptoms of COVID-19.
Operations at the Kenai Fjords Wilderness Lodge, with the same owner as the travel company, will also stop until July 8.
Positive cases among employees have also led to the cancellation of accommodation and activities at Miller’s Landing until at least July 6, according to a Facebook post by the Miller family, which caused all staff to be tested in order to last week.
The Millers plan to reevaluate their staff and will begin a plan to resume operations once they feel it is safe to do so, they wrote. The shutdown could “very well” last longer than Monday.
“This is absolutely the last thing we want to do,” says Miller’s Landing website. “The community is generally closing, the city has canceled the July 4 celebration, and operating seems like a blatant and unnecessary risk to those who live and work in the area.”
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