Anchorage County will lift its COVID-19 capacity restrictions on companies and ease collection size limits under a new emergency order that takes effect on Monday morning.
Citing a decline in cases and an increasing proportion of Anchorage residents who are vaccinated, city officials said on Thursday that the order to lift certain restrictions opens up even more parts of the city, while maintaining essential public health protections. They emphasized that continued surveillance this spring will hopefully result in a more normal summer.
Masking and social detachment requirements will remain in effect. The Emergency Order 19 requires individuals to wear a facial or mask cover in public and to be at least 6 feet away from people outside their home, when possible.
“We all know that this pandemic will not end overnight, or with the stroke of a pen,” said acting mayor Austin Quinn-Davidson during a community briefing on Thursday afternoon.
She said the city “has come a long way since March”, when authorities were “building the plane while flying it”.
“Now we need to land the plane safely. The best way to ensure that we can all have a more normal summer is to keep COVID-19 under control this spring, ”said Quinn-Davidson.
As of Monday, there will be no capacity restrictions in retail and public affairs, but they must operate in a way that allows customers to be 6 feet away from other people outside their homes.
The new emergency order takes effect on Monday at 8 am
• Internal meetings with food and drinks can include up to 25 people and meetings without food and drink for up to 35 people.
• Outdoor meetings where people eat and drink can have up to 60 people, and those without food and drink can have up to 100 people.
• Capacity restrictions have been lifted for bars and restaurants, but masks are mandatory and there must be a distance of 1.8 m between groups of customers.
• Alcoholic drinks can be served until 2 am
• Entertainment facilities such as theaters can also operate at full capacity, as long as people wear masks and there is a distance of 1.8 m between groups.
• Gyms and gyms can operate at full capacity, although masks and social distance are also required.
Janet Johnston, an epidemiologist at the Anchorage Department of Health, described the changes made as “incremental”. She said she believes that the more people who continue to receive the vaccine, the more comfortable they will be in Anchorage.
Anchorage COVID-19 case rates are roughly similar to what they were in the early fall, which preceded a large increase in cases and threatened to overwhelm the city’s health capacity, as staff shortages left few hospital beds. intensive care available.
What makes this moment different, said Johnston, is the advent of a COVID-19 vaccine that was administered to most frontline healthcare professionals. In addition, the majority of elderly people were vaccinated in the municipality, which can reduce the number of people vulnerable to serious illnesses and possible hospitalization, she said.
“Usually when we give up the restrictions, we will see some increase in cases, the increase in vaccination coverage should help to decrease the cases. Therefore, we hope that, in the short term, this will be balanced and, in the long term, it will start to reduce cases ”.
So far, in Anchorage, 65,689 people have received at least the first dose of the vaccine.
Although specific capacity limitations have been lifted in restaurants, spacing is still necessary, as are masks for not eating or drinking, said City Attorney Kate Vogel. The new order gives companies more flexibility, but the order can still be carried out, said Vogel.
“What drives the capacity limitation will be the same need we have had for months, to keep different groups of customers 1.8 meters apart,” said Vogel.
Robert Kilby, co-owner of 907 Alehouse, recalled that the city was going in blockade around the last day of Saint Patrick year, and having to cancel the planned bar celebration and concert.
This year, canned meat with cabbage is back on the menu, but there will be no live music, he said.
“It’s a much better place than we were a year ago, so nothing but positive vibes and, hopefully, hopefully, in the summer, we can have some shows again,” said Kilby.
With social distancing requirements, the 907 Alehouse will be operating at about 80% capacity, he said. The restaurant can serve customers again at its bar, but Kilby said he hopes it will take some time before the party atmosphere the place once had returns.
Still, the mayor’s announcement seemed like a positive step in the right direction, he said.
“I hope this continues in that direction and we don’t have any setbacks,” he said.
Despite the decline in the case count and the increase in the vaccinated population, city health officials have stressed their concern about emerging variants of COVID-19 that have been shown to be more transmissible than the most common strains that are already circulating in Alaska. They noted the importance of testing and quarantining after the trip.
“We have come this far and I know that many are tempted to give up prematurely and declare victory,” said Quinn-Davidson. “We are not going to make that mistake.”