Governor Mike Dunleavy held a press briefing on Friday night where he formally announced a 30-day extension to the state’s emergency declaration. It will go into effect upon the current declaration’s expiration on November 16 at 12:01 a.m.
Initially, the Governor noted that he wishes to extend the emergency declaration for “the next few months,” later clarifying to it being a 30-day extension, as that as far as he is allowed to issue an extension without the legislature doing so.
He ultimately believes that the 30 days will be sufficient to allow medical associations, municipalities, and tribal entities to be better prepared to secure the tools they will need to combat the virus.
He also feels that the state legislature should discuss extending the declaration even further, as only they have the power to go beyond 30 days. The Governor has the power to call an emergency session with a mandate of discussing the emergency declaration. Legislative leaders have made the sentiment clear that they do not have the votes to call a session themselves, putting the preverbal ball in the Governor’s court. Despite that, Dunleavy does not plan to take this route, noting on Friday that his limited declaration extension of 30 days should be sufficient to assure Alaskans that essential organizations will have the tools they need to provide services and care.
There is no aim to limit businesses in the same manner the state did early in the pandemic; rather, Dunleavy’s plan is to utilize a tightly-focused plan that allows necessary organizations to streamline their processes to get the tools they need. He wants a very tight, very controlled declaration.
He noted that a mere declaration of emergency will not solve the crisis; rather, he asked Alaskans to do a little better to “wear a mask, being at distance, limiting interactions with others, because this is the tool until vaccinations come into mass production, which they’re scheduled to.” According to the Governor, the vaccination should be tangible later this year, with a plan for vaccination distribution already being devised, beginning with the most vulnerable Alaskans.
The virus is not going anywhere, any time soon, according to Dunleavy. He said COVID-19 “may be with us for some time, perhaps for the rest of our lifetimes, but with these vaccinations, we’re going to get the upper-hand soon. The next few months are going to be tough for all of us. The next 2 to 3 months are going to be tough.”
The night’s remarks were summarized when the Governor took a broad-strokes approach to his expectations of Alaskans: “This virus is real, it’s infecting us at higher numbers, so we all need to reevaluate our daily routine to make sure we can get through this. Alaskans, you’ve done a remarkable job, and I know we’re asking a little more, but this is a trend across the world at this point.”