Governor Little moves Idaho back to Stage 2 in Recovery Plan

Idaho Governor Brad Little announced at a press conference Friday that a state-wide public health order has been issued to move Idaho to a modified version of Stage Two.
 He announced that 749 deaths have occurred from COVID-19 in the state of Idaho. Many healthcare providers have been diagnosed positive with the virus and are contracting it from communities rather than within healthcare facilities, he said. Travelling nurses are becoming increasingly more difficult to locate and certain elective surgeries and procedures have been postponed by several facilities.
 “My fellow Idahoans, we are in the middle of an unprecedented and dangerous time in our state’s history,” said Little. “With every day that passes, we are breaking records for the number of COVID deaths, the number of overall hospitalizations and the number of new cases in communities all across our states.”
 The stress placed on healthcare facilities as a result of the pandemic is not sustainable, and if the statistics continue to rise, many facilities will be forced to ration care.
 Transmission of the virus is most often seen in smaller group settings where individuals feel safe enough to not wear masks or social distance.
 While taking action and keeping protocol in public situations is important, continuing those practices at home or in private is also important, said Little. Idahoans that are high-risk are encouraged to self-isolate, and limiting small social gatherings and physical distancing as well as wearing masks with all that are not a member of the immediate household are also highly encouraged.
 “Our pandemic response…has been about preserving and elevating healthcare capacity,” said Little. “So that we can all have access to care whether we have COVID or not.”
 On Friday, Little also announced that he signed an executive order mobilizing the Idaho National Guard. 100 Guardsmen have been called and asked to respond to the emergency, increase critical access and help expand capacity within Idaho’s medical and long-term care facilities.
 Businesses and worship services will not be affected by the order, however are still encouraged to uphold recommended health protocols. Otherwise, all indoor and outdoor gatherings are limited to ten individuals. Masks will remain required at long-term care facilities.
 “Our coronavirus response has been about protecting our at-risk loved ones from this highly contagious and damaging respiratory disease,” said Little.
 School buildings are shown to be controlled environments and not where mass cases are traced to, said Little. He said he encourages schools to remain open to offer in-person instruction to students. School closures create the possibility of threat to the availability of healthcare workers. If a healthy doctor or nurse is a parent and must remain home to facilitate a learning environment, the healthcare system loses another aid.
 “This is the biggest challenge facing healthcare right now…the availability of trained, healthy nurses and doctors to care for all patients, not just COVID patients” said Little. “Our kids need to remain in school for in-person instruction as much as possible.”
 Masks are used to limit the spread of the virus by preventing bodily fluids from transmitting to other individuals and in turn prevents one individual from intaking another’s bodily fluids transmitted through the air. Little said there is still resistance throughout the state as well as wearing a mask in public then removing when in social settings such as with friends. He said he maintains that limiting the spread of the virus comes down to the personal responsibility of Idahoans.
 “Please wear a mask when you are around another person who is not in your household,” said Little. “It will protect you and your loved ones. It will slow the COVID spread. It will keep people employed and protect our economy and it will preserve healthcare access.”
 In Weiser and Washington County, the move to Stage Two has cancelled or limited several events. The afterschool program facilitated by the Weiser Police Department has been cancelled until further notice. The option for in-person spectating of winter sports has been limited to only essential individuals, including players, coaches and press.
 All home sports will be streamed live at Living in the News, and away games will be streamed at the discretion of each school. Games can be viewed on the NFHS Network with a monthly subscription of $10.99 or a yearly subscription of $69.99.
 The upcoming girls basketball game scheduled for Nov. 24 at Melba will be streamed on the NFHS Network.
 Health protocols issued by the governor are available at rebound.idaho.gov.