On Tuesday, the Unalaska City Council voted to expand coronavirus-related restrictions.
The city's original resolution was passed three weeks ago, on March 24. The resolution included the "hunker down" order, closure of non-essential businesses, and certain quarantine measures.
That resolution, 2020-17, was due to expire on April 15.
City Manager Erin Reinders said the new resolution passed on Tuesday includes almost all of the past measures, with some new updates.
"This resolution clarifies and extends what you all set out to accomplish with resolution 2020-17," said Reinders. "You'll notice in this resolution it also adds some additional measures aimed at protecting public health. These are also measures that were supported by our local healthcare professionals."
There are three major changes in the new resolution:
The first change is that anyone visiting essential businesses must wear a face mask. Those businesses include the post office and grocery store. A business owner may refuse service to anyone not covering their nose and mouth.
The second change is that essential businesses that were not required to submit plans to the state must post a brief statement on the protection measures and protocols they're taking on all entrances and exits of the building.
The last change focuses on those essential businesses that were required to submit protocols and travel plans to the State of Alaska.
According to Tuesday's resolution, those travel protocols must also be submitted to Unalaska's Department of Public Safety.
So far, the city has been unable to approve or even see the plans that were submitted to the state.
The Dunleavy administration has refused to release those plans to local elected leaders, though they have said that they intend to release those documents eventually. No timeline has been given.
In the case of Unalaska, where the fishing season is already underway, that can be a challenge to local governments.
Going forward, any company that has or will submit plans to the state must also send them to the City of Unalaska "as soon as possible." According to the mandate, once those plans have been approved by the state, the company has three days to inform the city. If the plan has been rejected, that company has 48 hours.
Businesses can submit their plans to COVID19PLANS@ci.unalaska.ak.us.
