A sign on the Haines Highway advises travelers to self quarantine upon arrival. (Photo by Henry Leasia)

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Governor Mike Dunleavy has issued several mandates that aim to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus in Alaska. Questions linger about whether municipal governments can implement stricter precautions than the state when trying to protect their communities.

State-mandated health precautions include travel restrictions and two week quarantines for anyone entering the state from outside. However, there are exemptions for businesses and employees that provide essential services. 

During town hall meetings in Haines over the past two weeks, several residents expressed concerns about those exemptions. 

At a press conference Tuesday, Governor Mike Dunleavy said that local municipalities have some authority to implement their own travel restrictions. 

“Communities have the leeway through their councils, city councils and other governmental entities to have that discussion with the people in town and the people in the surrounding areas,” Dunleavy said. “The less mixing we have going on at this point, the more we slow the virus down.”

The governor said he has seen some parts of the country strictly enforce restrictions on the public’s movement during the pandemic. He cautioned against implementing ‘hard and fast rules’ that could generate public resistance to health precautions. 

“If there are folks that are engaging in behaviors that are illegal, that folks may believe are unconstitutional then they can contact our office and we can have that discussion,” the governor said.

The Haines Borough has distributed travel declaration forms at all points of entry to the community. (Photo by Henry Leasia)

On March 18th the Haines Borough Assembly adopted a resolution to require that all people entering the borough from outside quarantine for 2 weeks. 

During a town hall meeting Tuesday, Haines Borough Manager Debra Schnabel said there is a question of whether the Haines Borough can implement its own restrictions. 

“The state’s mandate supersedes any local restrictions,” Schnabel said. 

An attachment to the state’s travel mandate says that some small rural communities can implement their own stricter travel restrictions. However, the attachment also states that communities like Haines that are connected to the road system are not allowed to adopt stricter travel restrictions than those implemented by the state.

Last week Schnabel sent a letter to members of the governor’s staff, requesting more autonomy when implementing measures to prevent the spread of the virus locally. 

“We are waiting for the governor’s office to give us either clarification or release us, provide a waiver, or to adjust to allow more local control,” Schnabel said. “If and when that happens then we will be able to exercise the level of control that the assembly adopted on March 18.”

At the meeting Tuesday, Schnabel addressed local concerns about construction workers arriving in Haines from outside the borough. She expects municipal road projects to be completed by locally hired workers and said it is possible that renovations of the small boat harbor could be postponed. However, she noted that the borough is under contract and there have been no discussions of delaying the work. 

The Alaska Department of Transportation (DOT) project on the Haines Highway is a different story. 

“As far as postponing projects that is a possibility that we could be able to with our own projects. As far as the state project goes that is completely out of our hands,” Schnabel said.

According to Schnabel, DOT is requiring a two week quarantine for anyone arriving from outside the state to work on a road project. However, the state does not require quarantines for road workers arriving from other areas of Alaska. 

All essential businesses bringing in workers from out of state must submit a community/workforce protection plan to the state. The Haines Borough is also requiring employers to submit a plan for reducing the risk of spreading the virus while working in the community.