Business owners want predictability in rules and regulations. During a pandemic, one that involves a virus that can be spread without carriers showing symptoms and so far seems to be far more deadly to those with underlying issues such as obesity, diabetes and hypertension, the predictability is not there, yet.
There are a dozen unknowns surrounding the coronavirus which leads to COVID-19: Does an infection then provide immunity, are the young less likely to have a serious case, does it foster breakdowns elsewhere in the body? Will the virus subside during warm months, to return with more vigor in late fall and early winter as more common flus do? It will require time and testing to answer those questions. It is only recently that masks, even a bandanna, have been strongly encouraged or mandated.
Had there been a nationally organized defense against the virus, allowing for regional and state differences, there would be more answers drawn from the more than 1 million known infected and about 68,000 dead (as of Tuesday). Instead, the White House first ignored or discounted the ferocity of the virus and then, when its magnitude became clear, said to the states, it is up to you.
In La Plata County, San Juan Basin Public Health has provided what visible leadership there has been. It has rightly promoted stay-at-home, very strong encouragement to distance, the closing of nonessential businesses, restaurant takeout and then curbside retail pickup. Friday, there can be partial business openings with a checklist of strongly suggested employee and customer behavior. Some businesses will participate, others will not.
SJBPH has only reported the thinnest of information, about the infected in the county (63, as of Tuesday) and the number deceased (zero, also as of Tuesday). Little is publicized about the progress of testing. A challenge for residents has been to be familiar with what Gov. Jared Polis lays out for the state, and SJBPH’s directives. The governor has said a county can be more restrictive but to be less restrictive requires approval. SJBPH is postponing partial business openings a few extra days along with keeping salons and massage parlors closed. Monday was the governor’s partial-open date; Friday for SJBPH.
SJBPH’s explanation for the few extra days makes sense, as the New Mexico county to the south has a high number of infected and deceased, 806 and 62 (as of Tuesday). Shoppers and workers travel between the two counties, and San Juan County has about twice the population of La Plata County.
Are a few extra days adequate?
New Mexico’s governor knows the numbers, and has singled out San Juan County along with two other counties for delayed relaxation of her restrictions. (Archuleta County, the other county SJBPH is responsible for, is following the governor’s schedule. It does not have the same traffic to and from the south.)
Are businesses being allowed to reopen too soon? Nationally, public health experts and the public think so. They say, rightly, there needs to be much more testing to know how the virus is behaving and has behaved.
The denominator must be larger, and that is where the federal government has fallen down. In no way has there been a “mission accomplished.”
We await the governor’s and San Juan Basin Public Health’s next steps. If two weeks are required for self-isolation, does that mean it will be two – or more likely three – weeks before we know whether the coronavirus is continuing its downward trajectory while businesses are newly partially open?
Employees and shoppers can make the openings successful. Follow the rules even when they appear extreme. As the governor and SJBPH have said repeatedly as this week arrived, do not let the effort to combat the virus slip back.
