Gov. Brad Little To Hand Off Idaho Coronavirus Response After Months Of Political Pressure

By James Dawson - June 18, 2020

When he launched Idaho’s phased reopening plan in April, Gov. Brad Little said if cases of coronavirus in Idaho spiked, the entire state could move back through these four different stages. That no longer appears to be the case.

On a call with lawmakers earlier this week, Little was asked about his strategy to handle a resurgence in cases – most recently seen in Ada County.

According to multiple legislators on the call, the governor said decisions on future restrictions would likely take a more regional approach.

That’s in stark contrast to what he said during an April 30 press conference unveiling his four-phase reopening plan. “If, heaven forbid, we had a big spike in cases, yeah, the possibility could be there that we could move backwards,” Little said at the time.

When pressed further on this, he said, “It’s all relative to the magnitude of the spike.” About a month later, when announcing bars and movie theaters would be allowed to reopen during phase three – two weeks earlier than originally planned – Little began laying the groundwork for a decentralized approach.

“I anticipate and in consultation with our coronavirus working group and other people that it’ll be more regional, our reaction,” he said May 28.

Work is now ongoing between the governor’s office, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare and the seven public health districts sprinkled throughout the state to establish the metrics and criteria that will be used to implement any further restrictions.

It’s unclear whether those metrics will match the baselines Little used to move the state through his reopening plan. It’s also unknown who will ultimately have the authority to impose new constraints on businesses or individuals.

The evolution in his approach comes after months of relentless political pressure from within the Idaho Republican Party.

Sitting lawmakers have called the governor a “mighty dictator” and compared his stay at home order to the Nazi regime murdering millions of Jews during the Holocaust, despite it almost never being enforced.

Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin celebrated businesses opening before they were allowed to under Little’s plan, visiting Hardware Brewing in Kendrick in early May, alongside state Republican Party Chairman Raul Labrador and local legislators. McGeachin and Little didn’t speak for weeks.

House Speaker Scott Bedke (R-Oakley) wrote a letter to Little on April 12, calling his statewide stay at home order “ill-advised” and that he should hand over control of the coronavirus response to regional public health districts.

While the legislature was out of session, Bedke said there was little it could do to weigh in on the matter, but warned the governor “the way you exercise legislative powers now will affect how the Legislature views those powers when it next convenes” in January.

When reached by phone Thursday afternoon, Bedke said he wouldn’t second guess the governor’s initial approach, but that delegating to the public health districts is a good strategy.

“You let them do what they do best,” he said. “This multiplies the effectiveness of both the health districts and the state.”

But this shift has taken some aback.

House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel (D-Boise) said she was “surprised” to learn that the governor’s plan has moved away from a statewide approach.

“I just hope that he is leaving all options open because we’re in very uncharted waters,” Rubel said, noting she hoped the change was data-driven rather than bowing to political critics.

The news comes as Ada County, Idaho’s most populous, is experiencing a spike in cases. State data show 94 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the county over the past four days.

Statewide, the percentage of positive tests declined to 2.3% last week, though more than 3,000 fewer tests were completed during that time period compared to the prior two weeks, have accounted for most of the coronavirus deaths in Idaho.

All businesses can open, Little said, though physical distancing will be needed.

Little on March 25 issued a stay-at-home order for the state's 1.75 million residents. Idaho's economy began shutting down with some 130,000 unemployment claims filed over the next eight weeks.

The plan for reopening the economy through four stages at roughly two-week intervals is based on infection rates and testing. The readiness of the health care system is another factor, including available ventilators and beds in intensive care units.

Little said that all those factors are being met, though it was close on new infections and infections of healthcare workers. State epidemiologist Christine Hahn said the infections among healthcare workers appeared to be not happening on the job, but in their homes from other family members or elsewhere.

Hospital beds in intensive care units also dipped, but state officials said that was due to more surgeries being performed and not because of severe coronavirus cases where patients had trouble breathing.

If infections were to spike or other criteria weren't met, Little said the state could be forced back into more restrictions. He said community spread has now occurred in more than of half of the state's 44 counties. Community spread means it's not clear where a person became infected.

Health officials say the state's testing ability has jumped to 10,000 people a day and could hit 20,000 if needed. Officials also said the ability to do contact tracing, a voluntary program for those contacted, has increased significantly.

Stage 4 is scheduled to end on June 26. The state has set up protocols for what will be allowed after that, though until a vaccine for the virus is found physical distancing and face coverings would likely remain.

Idaho has 3,462 confirmed cases of the virus that have caused 88 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, that clear up in two to three weeks. But it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death for some people, especially older adults and people with existing health problems.