The Unalaska City Council passed an emergency "hunker down" order during its regular meeting Tuesday night. The new order asks that Unalaskans "stay at home as much as possible."
The only exceptions are to get groceries and other important goods, to access health care, or for "fresh air without contacting others."
Anyone traveling into the city from a community with known cases of coronavirus must self-quarantine for 14 days. The two exceptions for this are health workers and employees of "critical businesses." Under Unalaska's rules, fishing and fish processing are considered critical businesses. A list of other critical businesses—including grocery stores and television and radio stations—can be found on the city's website.
"You know some people are going to get hit hard financially on this," said City Councilor Shari Coleman. "If others aren't playing by the same rules, [it's] kind of concerning. [I'm] just wondering if there's an element of enforcement."
Vice Mayor Dennis Robinson worried that without more oversight, certain areas of industry also might not adhere to the order.
"There are a few of them out there that probably need a little more aggressive urging to please respect our citizens here, and when they get off that plane don't just go barging into places and up to people. Be mindful of distance," said Robinson. "Maybe we can send a little more of an aggressive letter saying that we passed this resolution to the companies that operate out here."
In the end, the order passed unanimously.
Unalaska's "hunker down" order is in addition to Gov. Mike Dunleavy's health mandate, which includes a 14-day quarantine for anyone traveling from outside the state, and a closure of all non-essential businesses. Violations of the state mandate come with up to a $25,000 fine and up to a year in prison. Like Unalaska's order, the mandate does not cover critical businesses like health care workers, reporters, or the fishing industry.
