Anchorage Mayor Austin Quinn-Davidson held a public briefing on Tuesday to announce the next steps for the municipality’s COVID-19 emergency restrictions, effective at the start of the new year.
Quinn-Davidson formally announced Emergency Order 17, which aims to ease many restrictions imposed by earlier hunker-down orders: “We are now in a position where we can begin to ease restrictions. After hearing from our public health officials, business owners, non-profit leaders, and community members, we’ve taken public health data, economic analyses, and personal stories into account to guide Anchorage’s next steps. We’ve worked long hours, including over the Christmas weekend, to put together a package based on science – a package that, at its core, values fairness. Today, we are announcing the details of Emergency Order 17, which will go into effect at 8:00 a.m. on January 1.”
The Mayor’s online briefing revealed that bars and restaurants in Anchorage will be allowed to reopen for indoor dining at 25% capacity, but that they must end alcohol service at 11:00 p.m to limit prolonged visits. With regards to other industries, she offered details: “Entertainment businesses can also open at 25% capacity, and will be required to follow similar guidelines as hospitality businesses for any food service. Gyms, personal care services – like salons – and retail businesses – like grocery stores or small shops in town – can operate at 50% capacity with the same masking and distancing requirements that we’re all used to. Organized sports can resume scrimmages indoors. Teams that use ice rinks must continue to remain outdoors, however. Remote work is still required when it doesn’t significantly impede business operations.”
Quinn-Davidson attributed the ease of restrictions this week to the effectiveness of the city’s past emergency orders, and is bullish on the future of Anchorage, and the state of Alaska, in the midst of the pandemic: “We came dangerously close to overwhelming our health care system before the holidays. But thanks to Emergency Order 16, and the personal sacrifices that Alaskans have made, we’ve brought cases down, we’ve freed up space at our hospitals, and now we find ourselves in a slightly better position. The decisions we make in Anchorage have a ripple-effect across the entire state. We hear from communities throughout Alaska that look to what we do in Anchorage and modify their actions accordingly.
She added: “Today, we find ourselves in a better place because residents of the municipality led the way. None of us want to have to return to a hunker down again. If we remain vigilant, we won’t have to.”
