Local authorities emphasize educating violators of stay-at-home order

POCATELLO — Public health officials say 418 people have tested positive for COVID-19 across the state amid a worldwide pandemic that had claimed the lives of seven Idahoans as of Monday evening.

Nearly three-quarters of Idaho’s positive COVID-19 cases, the sickness caused by the new coronavirus, are located in two Idaho counties — Ada County has reported 151 positive cases and three related deaths and Blaine has reported 148 cases and two related deaths — with confirmed community transmission occurring in Ada, Blaine, Canyon, Madison and Kootenai counties, according to state public health records.

But Niki Forbing-Orr, a spokeswoman for the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, says several open investigations and limited testing in the Gem State could suggest more widespread community transmission is unknowingly occurring and suggests residents “assume COVID-19 is already circulating in your community” and adhere to Gov. Brad Little’s statewide order issued Wednesday to “stay home and slow the spread.”

“Because we’ve had such limited testing capacity and resources, only the most ill have been tested,” Forbing-Orr said. “There may be people who haven’t had very severe symptoms but are positive for COVID-19 and out in the community. Assume it is already where you live and stay home.”

Community transmission involves the spread of illness for which the source of the infection is unknown and cannot be connected to travel or close contact with a person who tested positive for COVID-19.

In East Idaho, which includes the Southeastern and Eastern Idaho Public Health Districts, Bannock County has the second most confirmed positive COVID-19 cases with three of the 17 total cases. Madison County has the most with five positive cases. East Idaho has not reported a death related to COVID-19.

Caynon and Nez Perce counties are each reporting one death related to COVID-19.

When it comes to enforcing the governor’s order asking all Idaho residents, not just those who are sick, to stay home if possible and self-isolate, all local police departments and sheriff’s office are implementing a similar approach to enforcing the order — educating violators of the order’s importance followed by citations for persistent violators.

Those who should be staying home and self-isolating include any employee or public official not deemed “essential” in Little’s order, which is available online at coronavirus.idaho.gov/statewide-stay-home-order.

Gov. Little’s office provides the following guidance on the frequently asked questions page of the state’s coronavirus website: “If you believe someone is violating the stay-at-home order, report it to the local authorities. That may be city police, county sheriff, or Idaho State Police depending on the circumstances. The governor, the Department of Health and Welfare, and the attorney general’s office do not have enforcement authority under the statutes authorizing the order or under the order itself.”

Those who wish to report violations of the stay-home order should not dial 911 and should instead use the non-emergency number for the law enforcement agency with the proper jurisdiction, according to the Idaho State Police.

“People may choose to self-educate their fellow Idahoans or if a large gathering is noted, they may call their respective law enforcement agency’s non-emergency number,” the Idaho State Police Department says on its frequently asked questions page regarding the stay-home order.

The Pocatello Police Department provided additional guidance in a Friday news release that explains how it will handle local reports of people or businesses violating the stay-home order.

Following the guidance of local public health officials, Pocatello police said the department will first send any complaints about businesses or groups not complying with the order in the Gate City to the Southeastern Idaho Public Health. From there, health department experts will contact the business or group to educate them on the order and the importance of following the order and to answer any questions they may have.

“If non-compliance continues, SIPH will work with officers from the Pocatello Police Department to address the situation,” Pocatello police said. “Under Gov. Little’s order, those who refuse to comply with the order can be charged with a misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in jail and up to $1,000 in fines.”

Pocatello Police Chief Roger Schei said officers are not stopping people without cause on their travels or while they are out. The department has also set up no checkpoints and is not asking for essential employee documentation from citizens, he said.

However, Schei ensured local residents that police are still responding to requests for service and will be there for those in need. Schei noted that dispatchers will ask those who do request a law enforcement response if they have experienced a fever, upper-respiratory infection symptoms such as difficulty breathing or a cough, any contact with someone suspected or confirmed to have coronavirus or any travel to another state or country in the last 30 days.

“We have had no reports of people violating the order as of Monday evening,” Schei said. “And if people need help we are still here. The dispatch questions are in place to protect our officers, not dissuade the public from seeking our assistance. Our No. 1 goal is the preservation of human life and that has not changed.”

Idaho Department of Labor officials encourage workers to first attempt to resolve with their employer any issues regarding the stay-home order. Except as it pertains to work separation issues, the Idaho Department of Labor has no enforcement oversight of the stay-home order.

Chubbuck Police Chief Bill Guiberson said in a Wednesday afternoon news release that the Chubbuck Police Department will not issue citations or make arrests pertaining to Little's order.

"We view our role as one of education, and educating people on how to keep their families safe and more importantly to keep the community safe, especially the vulnerable and elderly," Guiberson said in the news release. "For the most part, Chubbuck residents have been doing their part and showing that they understand the seriousness of the situation we are all experiencing."

Bannock County Sheriff Lorin Nielsen said his agency will only issue citations for violating the stay-at-home order as a last resort. Further, Nielsen said he has received reports from citizens that sheriff’s office deputies have set up checkpoints at Bannock County’s southern border to ensure no local residents are leaving and no outside residents are entering the county. He assured to the Journal Monday afternoon that no such checkpoints have been established, nor will they at this juncture.

“The order doesn’t recommend that we strictly enforce, but asks that we educate and advise,” Nielsen said. “I want to empty my jail, not fill it during this time. We don’t need to make life any more stressful than it already is for so many folks.”

Public health officials encourage all residents to take precautions to protect themselves from coronavirus with additional information on ways to help prevent the spread of the disease available online at siphidaho.org/coronavirus.php, coronavirus.idaho.gov, and cdc.gov.

“As COVID-19 continues to spread around Idaho, we are urging our communities to actively prepare for the potential spread of coronavirus,” said Maggie Mann, Southeastern Idaho Public Health district director. “We know that the spread of COVID-19 will occur. However, everyone can do their part to slow the rate at which this virus is spread.”