Idaho governor announces phased plan to begin reopening

BOISE (AP) — Idaho Gov. Brad Little on Thursday announced a plan for restoring normal activity in Idaho and recovering from the economic pain caused by the coronavirus, but warned the process will take time and will be based on declining infections and strong testing.

The Republican governor said the state will begin on May 1 an approach with four phases, increasing levels of activity as conditions allow. His stay-at-home order remains in effect until April 30. Little didn’t say if that will be extended.

“It’s going to be a very metered ramp-up predicated on continued good behavior of the state of Idaho to where we know we’re not going to have a big second wave (of infections),” he said in a video news conference.

The plan is similar to the guidelines provided to governors by President Donald Trump earlier this month that has a three-phase gradual reopening of businesses and schools.

Little’s plan begin with similar conditions to his stay-at-home order with both public and private gatherings to be avoided. Churches and almost all retail shops could open as long as they follow strict physical distancing guidelines and other protocols.

If officials are satisfied after two weeks that infection rates haven’t increased, the state would move to stage 2. The state would advance in two-week increments to stages 3 and 4 with increasing lifting of restrictions if infections don’t increase.

Stage 2, for example, allows gatherings of up to 10 people. Stage 3 raises that to 50, and in stage 4, gatherings of more than 50 people are allowed. But even in stage 4, precautions are included that limit occupancy in bars and require social distancing in theaters and other large venues.

“We are not going to be back to normal until we have a vaccine,” Little said. “I just have to be straight with the people of Idaho.”

The state would move through the stages as a whole, meaning areas with low infection rates would not be allowed to advance faster. Little said allowing different stages in different areas could cause people to head toward less restricted areas and spread the virus.

Idaho had its first confirmed coronavirus infection on March 13, and within three weeks another 1,000 people had been infected. Little responded with an emergency declaration and on March 25 issued a statewide stay-at-home order for Idaho’s 1.75 million residents that also shut down non-essential businesses.

Those efforts succeeded in slowing the rate of infection over the next three weeks with only 802 more reported as of Thursday morning, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. Fifty-four people have died.

But from mid-March to mid-April, nearly 100,000 Idaho residents filed for unemployment benefits, and members of Little’s own party have questioned his response, especially now that the virus’ spread has been slowed.

Little called “disgusting” an incident Wednesday where protesters went to the home of a police officer in Meridian following the arrest of an activist at a park who was trespassing in playground closed to the public due to the virus.

Despite complaints, Little has stuck with a strategy he said will get Idaho back on track fastest. “The economy will not rebound if consumers do not have confidence,” he said.

A new survey finds Americans remain overwhelmingly in favor of stay-at-home orders and other efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus. A majority say it won’t be safe to lift such restrictions anytime soon. The survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found only 12% of Americans say measures to fight the outbreak where they live go too far. About twice as many believe the limits don’t go far enough.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, that clear up in two to three weeks. But it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death for some people, especially older adults and people with existing health problems.