Masks on, Cd'A

With a crowd of protesters chanting outside, the Coeur d’Alene City Council approved an individual mask mandate Monday to curtail the spread of COVID-19.

The ordinance is in effect today.

The meeting comes as coronavirus numbers are entering a spike, with schools back in session and with cold-and-flu season on the horizon. Coupled with last week’s decision to lift the countywide mask mandate, Mayor Steve Widmyer said there's potential for an unsustainable health crisis unlike what the community has experienced with this virus before.

“Way back in July, when we had this surge of 323 cases, we were all concerned,” Widmyer said. “I said at the time I was not in favor of a city of Coeur d’Alene mandate, because I didn’t think that was the right way to do it. I thought we needed a Kootenai County mandate, and that still is the best way. The city of Coeur d’Alene going it alone is not the best way to do it. Kootenai Health is still going to get patients from throughout the county, and really throughout the region. This, right before us, is the best we can do, and for me, doing nothing is not an option.”

The mandate does come with certain exemptions, such as:

• Outdoor public places and indoor facilities where people can appropriately practice social distancing do not require masks.

• Children 10 years old or younger are exempt.

• The resolution does not allow citations to be issued to businesses for individuals’ non-compliance.

• People who cannot medically tolerate a mask will be exempt. Such persons may not be asked for documentation to support their condition.

• Persons who are hearing impaired, or who are communicating with a person who is hearing impaired, where the ability to see the mouth is essential for communication, are exempt.

• Persons, including on-duty first responders, for whom wearing a face covering would create a risk to the person related to their work, as determined by local, state, or federal regulators or workplace safety, are exempt.

• Persons who are obtaining a service involving the nose, face, or head during which temporary removal of the face covering is necessary to perform the service, are exempt.

• Persons who are eating or drinking at a restaurant or other establishment that offers food or beverage service are exempt, as long as the person is able to maintain a distance of 6 feet from persons who are not members of the same household or party as the person.

• Indoor recreational facilities (gyms and fitness facilities) where people can employ social distancing as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control, are exempt.

Council members Dan English, Christie Wood, Amy Evans and Kiki Miller all voted to approve the temporary ordinance, citing a public health concern that is growing out of control.

“Our first responders are being exposed at alarming rates,” Wood said. “Our health care workers are begging for our help, our teachers, our first-line workers. I want to do everything I can. Doing nothing’s not an option.”

“This is a very high-impact decision,” English said, “that, once in a while, we get called upon. But for me, it’s an easy decision.”

The citation carries a $100 civil fine, rather than being held as a misdemeanor. The council also gave police direction swaying to education first. Police Chief Lee White explained to the council before the vote that, should the ordinance pass, his team would be ready to enforce the law.

“If this passes, you can expect some citations to be written," White said. "Look, we’re going to be the bad guys in this, the police department. They’re going to be mad at us over this, and we’re fine with that. I just want to make sure everybody understands that. When it’s in the (news)paper we wrote X amount of citations last weekend … because people were not complying with us after a warning, that is a very, very likely scenario in this go-around.”

The decision comes as local medical leaders have reported hospitalizations nearing capacity, leading toward what Kootenai Health officials called in a letter to council “a tipping point.”

Kootenai Health chief physician executive Karen Cabell said that since the onset of the pandemic, 316 patients have needed hospitalizations, and 77 of them were deemed critical. As of press time, 35 remained hospitalized with COVID-19, 11 critical. When asked what made COVID-19 so much more of a threat than other viruses such as the flu, Caball cited — among other concerns — the ease at which transmission occurs.

“What makes COVID different is that the interval between symptom onset and maximum contagiousness is day zero,” she said.

Personal protective equipment continues to be a problem to procure, as well, and absentee issues are straining the hospital’s ability to provide adequate care.

Council members Woody McEvers and Dan Gookin voted against the measure, McEvers stressing that his experience in the restaurant industry has taught him to respect the virus.

“I believe in the masks,” the owner of Rustler’s Roost in Hayden said. “I have a cool one here from the fire department. We wear shields in the restaurants. We take it seriously. In the food business, you have to take everything seriously.”

McEvers added, however, that the imbalance between the city passing a mandate and the county not following a mandate was a bridge too far.

“I don’t see where us, as a city, is setting the example,” he said. “I just don’t see how that’s the best use of what we can do. I don’t see why the city does it and the county doesn’t. I just have problems with it.”

Gookin grilled medical professionals for a healthy portion of the afternoon’s proceedings about the effectiveness of masks.

“I don’t think masks work,” Gookin said before voting in dissent. “This is just a political game, and I will not participate.”

The 90-day ordinance went into effect at 12:01 a.m. today.