The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Restaurants impacted. Ski lifts allowed to keep running
By Mark Reaman
As the reality sets in through the community that the coronavirus is in the valley, local leaders are taking and considering major moves to stem its spread. The county’s public health director Joni Reynolds this afternoon signed an emergency order prohibiting the number of people in any group gathering to 50. That includes places like restaurants and bars (not including staff) but the order did not require the ski area chairlifts to shut down. The thinking there is that ski lines are filled with people wearing some protective gear and there is usually space between people given the skis.
Meanwhile, the Mountain Express board of directors has called an emergency meeting for this weekend to consider whether or not it should shut down the shuttle service between Crested Butte and Mt. Crested Butte.
The restriction does effectively close libraries and day care centers in the valley.
“If we can prevent a sharp rise in cases, it is better to do it now rather than later,” Reynolds said. “We have limited resources in our community to deal with people who catch this and need medical help. The reality is that the public health measures will have significant ramifications on our community and we take that very seriously.”
The order also includes restrictions on people planning on attending gatherings where fewer than 50 people would attend. Those restrictions include: 1) Older adults (age 60 and older) and individuals with underlying medical conditions that are at increased risk of serious COVID-19 are not permitted to attend (includingemployees).
2) Social distancing recommendations must be met. These include limiting contact of people within 6 feet from each other for 10 minutes or longer, and any other guidance. The CDC defines social distancing as “remaining out of congregate settings, avoiding mass gatherings, and maintaining distance (approximately 6 feet or 2 meters) from others when possible.”
3) Employees must be screened for coronavirus symptoms each day and excluded ifsymptomatic.
4) Proper hand hygiene and sanitation must be readily available to all attendees andemployees.
5) Environmental cleaning guidelines from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are followed (e.g., clean and disinfect high touch surfaces daily or more frequently).
“In my opinion we have a small window to take measures that make an impact,” said Reynolds.
Reynolds said she understood the conundrum with the local buses where people are forced to sit near each other. But the order doesn’t stop the buses from running except to put the limit of 50 people on them. She said the plan was to provide bus drivers with masks to distribute to people who want or need them. Places like the airport, grocery stores and Walmart are also exempted from the order. Hotels are still allowed to be open but gathering spaces within the hotel are limited to the 50-person max.
The order is in place through April 8 when it will be reconsidered.
Reynolds admitted the biggest problem is lack of testing kits available in the county. The county had 50 kits to begin with but have used many of them. She said the state expected a shipment would be sent to Gunnison on March 27. Given the lack of test kits, the county is prioritizing them to be used on those that have been screened thoroughly and appear to be in the highest risk groups — those over 60 years old and those with chronic health problems. “We have been assured that mountain communities are the priority to receive the test kits,” she said.
“It is not lost on the county commissioners the impact this will have on our economy,” said board chair Jonathan Houck. “The experts have been clear about what it takes to soften the spread curve and minimizing people contact is important. We know if we’re not successful, possibly greater measures would have to be taken later.”
Houck said the county is working with the feds and the state to get funding that will help the local community negatively impacted by the measures.
“We are hopeful that by taking early action we will prevent the action we are seeing in other countries,” Reynolds stated. “We are cognizant on the impact to the local economy so my goal is to make it as short as possible.”
