Citywide COVID-19 mitigation measures remain in the City and Borough of Juneau despite Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s announcement that the statewide disaster declaration has expired, city officials said at Tuesday’s weekly community briefing.<\/p>\n
“It’s the same as last week here,” said Rorie Watt, CBJ city manager. “No change effectively.”<\/p>\n
Watt said that based on an ordinance the city Assembly recently passed, protocols that mirror the state mandates go into effect when the state mandate lapses. The ordinance sunsets when — and if — a state mandate is reinstated.<\/p>\n
As a result, all of the mitigation orders in place locally remain in place. This includes airport testing, strict social distancing requirements after travel, mask mandates, and limits on groups’ sizes.<\/p>\n
“Our case counts are trending down, and we have fewer cases, but there’s still some community spread. Mask mandates and group limits are effective in keeping it low,” Watt said.<\/p>\n
Deputy City Manager Mila Cosgrove, who is also the emergency operations center incident commander, said that the EOC is continuing to focus on the changing nature of the legislative environment.<\/p>\n
“We are working to make sure we have all the pieces in place, all the i’s dotted and all the t’s crossed,” Cosgrove said. “From a practical standpoint, the EOC asks the statewide EOC for assistance. There could be some impacts in that regard. But, our citizens won’t see much of a difference.” <\/p>\n
She said that people in other parts of the state might see a difference, and those people could travel to Juneau, which could be confusing.<\/p>\n