ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Bars and restaurants in Anchorage will be closed for indoor service, employers must allow people to work from home if possible and many businesses will be limited to 25% capacity for the month of December as Alaska’s largest city tries to stem the increase in coronavirus cases, Acting Mayor Austin Quinn-Davidson said Wednesday.
The new rules go into effect Tuesday and don’t end until Jan. 1, she said during a teleconference.
“Today, we find ourselves in a situation that nobody wants to be in. There are no easy answers, but we must act because continuing on this path is the worst of all bad options,” she said.
The director of the Anchorage Health Department, Heather Harris, says the agency “has been waving red flags for weeks as we have experienced record-breaking case counts.”
As of Wednesday, a total of 15,100 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Anchorage since the pandemic began; of those, 2,115 were reported in the last week.
There are 82 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in the city, and 66 residents have died. Only 22 ICU beds are available. If infections increase, it could put a burden on the city’s health care system, which most of the rest of Alaska also relies on.
Dr. Tom Hennessy, an infectious disease epidemiologist with the University of Alaska Anchorage, said the spread of the disease has to be reduced and kept at a low level.
“If we do that, we can reduce daily COVID cases, we can reduce the demand on our hospitals, we can reopen schools, we can reopen the economy,” he said.
“What we’re doing right now isn’t working,” Hennessy said, adding that the new restrictions are needed to reduce the number of cases.
Under the rules, people must limit outings and contact to those in their household. Indoor gatherings are limited to six people. That number rises to 10 for outdoor activities.
There will be no indoor sports competitions, and indoor gyms are limited to 25% capacity. Bars and restaurants can still offer outdoor service, takeout or delivery.
Like other businesses, salons and other personal care services are also limited to 25% capacity. Any service that requires removing a person’s mask is prohibited.
“Our goal with this order is to drive down transmission as much and as quickly as possible to a level that protects hospital and health care worker capacity, prevents unnecessary deaths and gives schools a real shot at reopening safely,” Quinn-Davidson said.
She said she realizes the restrictions may be incredibly difficult for some businesses that have been struggling since an initial lockdown was in effect last spring.
“You are the heart of our community, you give our neighborhoods character, you contribute to the economy and provide jobs to many in our community,” she said. “What happens to you next matters to all of us.”
Quinn-Davison said the city has about $15 million in federal relief funds left and that she will ask the Anchorage Assembly to distribute it where it’s needed most: rent and mortgage assistance. The current relief program expires in December and grants to hospitality businesses and other small businesses “need it to survive,” the acting mayor said.
She also called on Congress to pass stimulus relief for businesses and individuals in Anchorage and across the country.
“I am calling on our congressional delegation to put politics aside and pass another round of economic stimulus,” she said. “There is no legitimate reason that they have not done this.”
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