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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05262020 City Council Spc Mtg LAYDOWN - DRAFT SEWARD RECOVERY PLAN-HCW-5-21-20 (00932531x7AB6D) 5/21/2020 LAYDOWN For 5/26 City Council Special Meeting SEWARD'S COVID-19 RECOVERY PLAN The City of Seward has been carefully monitoring the state of the COVID-19 outbreak in the State of Alaska and in the City as well as Alaska's statewide response to this outbreak. Governor Dunleavy recently announced the State's Reopen Alaska Responsibly Plan and has repeatedly stated that the State Plan works best when applied uniformly. Governor Dunleavy also recognized that local jurisdictions may need to implement more restrictive rules based upon the risks and resources available within those jurisdictions. The City Manager and the City Emergency Operations Team is tasked, first and foremost, with protecting the health and safety of the community from the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. This Plan ensures that the City's response to COVID-19, both in the short and long term, is medically-based, fluid, and narrowly tailored. Additionally, the Plan is designed to be easily understood by and communicated to Seward community members and visitors. The Plan ensures that local mandates mirror State mandates to the greatest extent responsible in light of the City's unique needs and risks. It also aims to adopt easy to follow rules that are: 1) based upon medical and epidemiological data regarding COVID-19 and 2) the City's resources to prepare and respond to a COVID-19 outbreak. THE STATE APPROACH: A 5-STEP SYSTEM TO RECOVERY The State Plan anticipates a 5-phase climb to recovery for Alaska. In order to climb from one phase to the next, the State's emergency management team, led by Governor Dunleavy, will employ a color-coded status — red, yellow or green - to indicate whether it's safe to move forward to a less restrictive phase or if a "roll-back" to red is needed. While the State has not yet identified each phase of its Plan, The State Plan establishes four basic metrics that will be tracked by Alaska Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) in determining when to move forward or "roll back." The Four Basic Metrics are as follows: 1. Epidemiology Tracking disease trends and trend forecasting. 2. Testing Monitoring overall testing volume and changes in the percentage of positive tests at the community, regional, and statewide levels. Ensuring fast turnaround of tests and reporting of results. The goal is to maintain COVID-19 positive tests at less than one per one-thousand. 3. Public health capacity Monitoring cases and conducting necessary contact investigations for positive cases. 4. Health care capacity City of Seward COVID-19 Recovery Plan Page 1 of 4 5/21/2020 LAYDOWN For 5/26 City Council Special Meeting Ensuring hospitals have adequate capacity and supplies (such as PPE and ventilators) to care for COVID-19 patients and other patients needing urgent care. TAILORING THE STATE'S APPROACH TO THE CITY: CLIMBING TO RECOVERY In this Plan, the City adopts the State's four metrics and five phase approach to recovery. To this end, the City's COVID-19 Rules have been revised to impose lock- step social distancing restrictions with the State while also maintaining local requirements regarding the submission of plans and protocols to local authorities, local business postings, and mutual aid agreements. These postings and submissions ensure that the City, its residents, and its visitors have the information needed to ensure the public's awareness and compliance with both local rules and State mandates. Although the City embraces the State Plan, it also recognizes the need to provide the Emergency Operations Team flexibility to respond when the local situation worsens but State COVID-19 metrics remain unchanged. To this end, the City Plan adopts the State's red, yellow, and green alerts but adds a local "orange alert." The local "orange alert" ensures the City can "roll back" reopening efforts in the event the City's metrics fall out of line with the State. In an effort to ensure that every citizen and visitor knows exactly what local rules apply in each recovery phase, the City has revised its rules to eliminate any provisions more restrictive than those adopted by the State in the City's COVID-19 Recovery Rules' and to adopt COVID-19 "Community Outbreak Rules." The City's COVID-19 Community Outbreak Rules will only become effective when the City Manager, in collaboration with the Emergency Operations Team, declares an "orange alert," triggering the need for the implementation of stricter restrictions on the local level. These rules "rollback" to social distancing and business operation restrictions previously imposed by the State of Alaska and/or the City. Seward's Orange Alert: When and How is Seward's Orange Alert Triggered? The City's Orange Alert Rules will be triggered when the following occurs: 1.) Epidemiology A review of COVID-19 trends and trend forecasting suggests that there is an increase in the transmission of COVID-19 in Seward or a substantial increase in neighboring communities within Seward's industry markets, fisheries or transportation lines that has not triggered a change in the State's alert level. 2.) Testing 1 The COVID-19 Revised Rules retains posting and filing requirements as well as mutual aid agreement requirements to ensure that the City and the public has the tools and information necessary to monitor compliance with State mandates. City of Seward COVID-19 Recovery Plan Page 2 of 4 5/21/2020 LAYDOWN For 5/26 City Council Special Meeting The City's testing capacity diminishes or testing becomes unavailable at the community level. At the time this Plan was adopted, there were _ positive COVID-19 cases reported in Seward. The State's goal for testing is to maintain COVID-19 positive tests at less than one per one-thousand. While Seward's size does not lend itself to analysis under the State goal, the City's goal to maintain COVID-19 positive tests to less than five cases in a 14 day period is designed to ensure the City has appropriate testing capabilities to detect COVID-19 in the City and take steps to curb its spread before the pandemic overwhelms the City's limited medical resources. This metric may be adjusted based upon recommendations from the State or a medical advisor retained by the City. 3.) Public health capacity The City's public health capacity is significantly impacted by the commercial fishing industry, tourism, and the influx of intrastate and interstate workers and visitors at certain periods. During these periods, any COVID-19 positive test may warrant temporary imposition of greater social distancing restrictions. 4.) Health care capacity The City's limited ability to care for COVID-19 patients alongside other patients reaches its limited capacity or the City exhausts or is at risk of exhausting its minimal PPE supplies. Orange Alert: How Does it Work? In the event the City Manager declares an "Orange Alert," he will work with the Emergency Operations Team to: 1) Post Notice on the City website and in at least three other City locations that the COVID-19 Alert Status is "LOCAL ORANGE", 2) Post a copy of the "Community Outbreak Rules" and the effective date and time of these rules on the City website; 3) Send the notice electronically or via hand delivery to Council members within 24 hours of issuing the declaration. No more than five days after the City Manager declares "Orange Alert" status, City Council shall hold an emergency meeting and shall approve or deny the declaration of "Local Orange" status; 4) The Council meeting regarding "Orange Alert" status shall include a telephonic or videoconference public hearing in which members of the public may sign-up to comment on the City's declaration of a "Local Orange" alert and/or implementation of the Community Outbreak Rules; 5) Notice of the "orange alert" status and the reasons for the deviation from the State's code level will be sent to the State of Alaska; City of Seward COVID-19 Recovery Plan Page 3 of 4 5/21/2020 LAYDOWN For 5/26 City Council Special Meeting 6) If practicable, the City will notify all businesses registered with the City of the "Orange Alert" status and provide a copy of the "Community Outbreak Rules." "The Community Outbreak Rules" or "Orange Alert Rules" shall be submitted to Council for review and approved by Council before or contemporaneously with the adoption of this Recovery Plan. Unlike promulgated City COVID-19 Rules, Council may amend, revise or supplement the Community Outbreak Rules. Any Council revisions or amendments to the Community Outbreak Rules must be reviewed by the City Attorney for legality before becoming effective. APPENDICES The City has attached the following documents and incorporates these documents into this Plan: 1) Appendix A: Seward's Color-Coded System 2) Appendix B: Emergency Order 2020-03-Revised COVID-19 Emergency Rules 3) Appendix C: Seward's Community Outbreak Rules 4) Appendix D: Local Resources Regarding Alaska's COVID-19 Recovery 5) Appendix E: State Resources Regarding Alaska's COVID-19 Recovery City of Seward COVID-19 Recovery Plan Page 4 of 4