City and County State of Emergency Declared

by Evelyn Pyburn

The fallout from public concerns about the COVID-19 virus has prompted declarations of emergency by state and local officials and has resulted in health departments issuing demands that bars and restaurants be closed in several major counties.

Yellowstone County, the City of Billings and the City of Laurel issued declarations of emergency at the beginning of the week, followed within hours by the City / County Health Administrator John Felton’s order that all bars, casinos and restaurants must cease business. Restaurants are allowed to continue pick-up and delivery orders. 

The actions are being taken as government officials and public health entities strive to curb the spread of COVID-19 as much as possible.

Governor Steve Bullock declared a state of emergency for Montana a few days earlier, and announced on Sunday the closure of all the schools in the state, for two weeks – March 16-27. The order extends to daycares. During a press conference in the county commissioners board room on Tuesday there was some mention that school closures could extend beyond two weeks.

There has not been an outbreak of the virus in the schools. 

As of Tuesday there were eight COVID-19 cases confirmed in the state and no deaths attributable to the disease. 311 people have been tested in Montana. Tests are being done at the State Lab in Helena, with a medical service center set up at Metra Park in the Sandstone Building, where local test samples can be taken. 

Also as of Tuesday, 93 virus related deaths had been recorded in the US, with 4,743 cases confirmed. Most of those who die as a result of having the disease have underlying medical issues or are elderly, just as is the case of the mortality of the common flu, which claims about 57,000 lives each year.

Of the worldwide 7 billion people, 180,000 have contracted the disease, with about a third of those cases occurring in Italy whose death toll was at 2,526.

State of emergency declarations in Montana were issued, not so much because of heightened threat from COVID-19, but to assure that cities and counties in Montana will be able to collect reimbursement for costs in dealing with the virus from the federal government. Other counties issuing similar emergency proclamations in order to qualify are Missoula, Gallatin, and Butte-Silverbow, and Carbon. 

County Emergency Director K.C.Williams explained that the city and county government are being asked to declare a state of emergency “so we can tap into the state and federal resources.” “I do not know if the federal government will make it up, but if we don’t document expenses, it is 100 percent certain we won’t get any reimbursements.”

Williams said that while not all details have been announced about how to qualify for the funds, every department will be filing daily reports about the actions and expenses they have made in dealing with virus issues in order to establish their qualification for assistance.

Questions about county employees being able to continue to get paychecks was raised early on, and County Personnel Director Dwight Vigness said that county policy gives county commissioners discretion to make decisions about how sick leave will be applied and whether paychecks will be covered for county employees who are ill or worried about going to work. Department heads were urged to work with employees who have to stay home to take care of children or for other reasons. The department heads were urged to determine if some of those employees can work remotely, which will help out with staffing that is already tight.

The federal government has made available $50 billion under the Stafford Act to assist local governments with costs.

The biggest problem confronting government has in dealing with situation, said Williams, is in countering all the misinformation that is being advanced through social media. Twitter and Facebook are not good sources of information, he said, recommending that people call the County Health Department or go to their website for accurate information.

Williams spoke to city and county department heads on Monday recommending courses of action in running their departments, how to deal with the public and to take appropriate precautions to prevent the spread of the disease. The meeting was held in the County Commissioners’ board room where attendees sat in chairs spaced about six feet apart, which is in keeping with the social distancing being recommended by officials and which is spurring government actions against bars and restaurants, as well as the cancellation of events that would generate crowds of more than 10 people, which comes to be the limit sought by government officials. 

Bill Dutcher of Metra Park reported that the while many events are being cancelled in most cases the promoters or entertainers are working on securing alternative dates later in the year. He said that after June 1 things would get very busy at Metra Park since many of the events will be held then.

The opportunity for federal reimbursements for losses only applies to government agencies. Private sector businesses, many of which are suffering losses as events are being cancelled and distribution systems are being disrupted, will not qualify for reimbursement of losses, although Williams suggested that they, too, should keep track and report losses because there might be opportunities at some point in the future.

There are two forms that businesses, events and schools can fill out claiming their losses. 

A number of business owners and employees were at the press conference on Tuesday to ask questions. “I have a lot of employees who are scared, what do I tell them?” asked one employer, adding, “How long are we going to be down and out?”

Williams said that they do not know how long the situation will continue. While the announcement about the closure of bars and restaurants was for one week, until next Tuesday, the County Health Board could extend it. There were suggestions from Mayor Bill Cole and county commissioners that there may be appeals to the County Health Administrator to revisit the rules in the hope of making them more flexible– such as requiring tables in restaurants be set further apart.  

Asked in the Monday meeting, by what authority he is able to close private businesses, Felton said that under state law he has total authority. County Commissioners or city councils do not have to be consulted, and they were not in his declaration this week. 

There is a County Board of Health. On that board is Don Jones, County Commissioner representative, Brent R. Cromley, John Dorr , David Wanzenried, Norma Cleveland, Dr. Michael Dennis, John Hedge, Jim Harris, Amy MacKenzie-Sanders,  Bea Ann Melichar, Diane Duin, Steve Wahrlich, and Joan Thullbery.

Another bar/restaurant owner asked how Felton came to close bars and restaurants. She said that on her way to the meeting she passed all kinds of other businesses in which people had just as much proximity to one another, but “they are open and we are closed. What was the decision based on to target bars and restaurants?” She pointed out that the crowds at Costco or Walmart were every bit as crowded together.

Commissioners said that they did not know the criteria for closures. The person that would know the answer, John Felton, did not attend the Tuesday press conference. They said that Felton was planning a press conference later in the day or the next morning. People asked if they could be notified of that press conference. 

Felton held a press conference at 3 pm on Tuesday. Media was notified 45 minutes in advance.

Williams told the business woman that he believed the decision was made in an abundance of caution for public safety. The goal is to slow the spread of the disease.

A young woman said that she was a single mother who depended on her wages and tips as her primary source of income. One or two weeks without that income will be a crippling blow, and she asked what is she to do if at the end of the month she has no place to live. “The raw reality is the problem of how do I keep my house?” she said.

“We all are being affected in the same way,” said Williams, adding that officials “sympathize and empathize” with her predicament.

The woman also asked, “How are you going to manage the chaos?” predicting that as so many people are thrown out of jobs an increase in crime will be “substantial.”

How to handle the “crime and social disorder” will be up to law enforcement, said Williams, adding that one of the biggest problems officials face is  “trying to manage reactions” from the public.

It has been reported that not all restaurants and bars are closing. Many are continuing to offer meals for take-out or delivery, which the government is still allowing.

All liquor stores can remain open, and by all accounts sales have not declined and in some cases have increased. It might be noted that the State of Montana owns liquor stores.

Even before the county health department director mandated the closure of restaurants, many had experienced declines in business and were already cutting employee hours. Other kinds of businesses too are closing or cutting hours as they have experience declines in business.

Many of those who have lost jobs are being hired by Albertsons and other grocery stores.

There are two forms that businesses were asked to fill out and submit by email — one to the state and another to Big Sky EDA, which was represented by Director Steve Arveschoug at the Tuesday meeting.

Williams urged businesses that have been negatively impacted, schools and event promoters to fill out a one-page form to report the losses and actions they have been forced to take, and submit it to the state for potential financial assistance that may come in the future. He urged businesses to submit the information as soon as possible.

Williams said that if and when the assistance comes the community will be in competition with other communities for the funds, “So the better we document the impact that this has on us, the higher up we go on the list for potential resources.”

Businesses were asked to email to : covid-19@co.yellowstone.mt.gov, with information about their event or losses. 

Arveschoug asked businesses to fill out a one-page form for the Big Sky Economic Development in anticipation of assistance from the Small Business Administration.

The “economic injury worksheet” forms are online at https:// www. bigsky economicdevelopment.org/. Completed forms should be emailed to both mtdes@mt.gov and melanie@bigskyeda.org.

The US Congress passed last week the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act 2020 (H.R. 6074).  The legislation expanded the Small Business Act’s definition of a disaster to include Coronavirus.  As a result, SBA will be able to provide Economic Injury Disaster Loans under the Governor’s Certification Disaster Declaration. Small businesses and private non-profits are eligible borrowers, and the loans themselves are up to $2 million with a maximum 30 year term.  Current interest rates are 3.75%.

In an attempt to make Americans whole after suffering the negative impacts of the COVID-19 scare, the federal Treasury Department is contemplating sending direct cash payments to citizens – a proposal that is estimated to cost $1 trillion. President Trump also wants, in the long-term, to eliminate the payroll tax, which would amount to about a 7 percent pay increase for workers, but that process would take longer, and he wants something to be done that will happen “much faster.”

Williams cautioned everyone not to over react to the situation. He noted, “It was more dangerous for all of us to come to this meeting than is the risk that we will get the virus.”

Thousands of people have had the virus not realizing that it was ORVID-19. Some may have contracted the virus and not even known they were sick, their symptoms were so mild.

Other media reports caution that the early death rates reported from the disease are believed to have been erroneously high because of the way they were calculated.  Because tests were not available for some time and because only cases in which people are seeking medical assistance are tested for the virus, most cases – perhaps hundreds of thousands — of disease have been undetected and uncounted. Some of the initial reports regarding the death rate– those reaching as high as 3 and 4 percent were calculated based upon only the confirmed number of cases, which would inflate the rate beyond what it would be as a ratio to all  cases including those undetected. More recent estimates place death rate at under one percent, more in keeping with rates known to exist for similar viruses.