Governor: No mask mandate, but ‘modified’ Stage 2

Governor Brad Little issued a call up of the Idaho National Guard to help with the staffing response at Idaho’s hospitals due to growing COVID-19 cases admitted to medical facilities. He also rolled back the state to a hybrid-version of Stage Two of the Idaho Rebound Plan.

Little spoke clearly that Idaho is weeks, and maybe even days, from a failure of its health care capacity at hospitals and the exhaustion of its medical caregivers.

He explained that unless the residents of Idaho take all of the reasonable and admittedly minimally-invasive steps to slow the spread of COVID-19, hospitals will be full, emergency patients may be turned away for lack of ICU beds, there may be not enough health care workers left to treat existing patients and health care may be rationed.

COVID-19 cases in the state have quadrupled, filling up ICUs and non-ICU beds alike. The diminishing of health care capacity triggered Little’s response to address the growing crisis at hospitals.

For businesses and residents, the immediate impact will be through rolling back to Stage Two.

Hybrid Stage Two

The biggest changes will be a cap for gatherings at ten people and a the continuation of the restriction that limits restaurants and bars to seated service only.

The hybrid Stage Two restrictions are:

• Gatherings of more than 10 people are prohibited. This does not pertain to religious or political expression. Physical distancing is required for all gatherings.
• At-risk Idahoans should self-isolate.
• All Idahoans are encouraged to telework whenever possible and feasible with business operations.
• Masks continue to be required at long-term care facilities.
• Bars, nightclubs, and restaurants continue to operate with seating only.

Little said this does not mean Idaho’s economy is on lockdown. Businesses and churches can remain open for now. However, all individuals and businesses should continue following recommended protocols to minimize transmission, including wearing masks when around others.

Masks and rationing care

Noting that half of the communities in Idaho are under local mask mandates, Little did not issue one for the entire state.

One member of the press pointed out, certainly not for the first time, that asking Idahoans to wear masks isn’t working. In response, Little replied: “I just got to make a better case for people to do the right thing. I have to make the connection between doing those small sacrifices and preserving our health capacity.”

When the Idaho Business Review asked: “What conditions would have to exist for you to be actually willing to impose requirements on people to wear face coverings?” Little began his response with: “I will try to do a better job of explaining.” He went on to state that even with wearing masks, if they are not used correctly or not worn at the appropriate time or place, they don’t work. He did not, however, actually answer the question of what it would take for him to pass a mask mandate.

Little did say toward the end of the press conference that his office will be ramping up on efforts on getting the message out more effectively about proper mask wearing and other measures to control the spread of COVID-19. This effort would include messages about prevention delivered personally by COVID-19 patients and their caregivers on the toll on this disease inflicts on those so sick they need hospitalization.

When asked if Little had any message for his fellow Republican politicians, including tLieutenant Governor Janice McGeachin and the Legislature “who have resisted calls for things like wearing masks,” Little replied: “They are all independently elected, and they all do what they do — and I do what I do.” Then he went on to say, again, that he had failed to get the message across about the necessity of prevention measures like masks and that for the sake of the looming failure of the state’s hospital capacity, he had to do a better job at this.

One question was prefaced with the description that hospitals in neighboring states were also reaching capacity, and had stated they may soon turn down patient transfers from Idaho or have already done so. In light of this, Little was asked: “When those hospitals stop taking Idaho patients, when there is no where else to divert patients, what is the next lever to pull — or is rationing care the next step?”

Little replied: “That’s exactly right,” and pointed out that the need to ration care is the situation covered by the Idaho crisis standards of care, which is what the state uses when the healthcare system fails and there is no help coming from outside of the state to provide a rescue.