HAYDEN, Idaho — The Kootenai County Sheriff's Office said it will "favor education over enforcement" when it comes to enforcing the mandatory mask mandate in Kootenai County, according to a press release from Lt. Ryan Higgins.
KCSO also asked the public to stop calling 911 over questions related to mask wearing. Those with questions should refer to the Panhandle Health District's website. The Sheriff's office also said they would favor education over enforcement.
"By state law, this order is a misdemeanor offense that could result in a fine or possible jail time. With that being said, the Sheriff’s Office is responsible for enforcing the laws of the State of Idaho and Kootenai County. Therefore any Covid 19 mask wearing violations will be dealt with on a case by case basis. We will favor education over enforcement and will take a measured response to enforcement with a strong focusing on warnings."
The Panhandle Board of Health voted to create a mask mandate for Kootenai County at a public meeting Thursday afternoon.
Immediately after the vote, members of the public yelled in their disapproval of the resolution. It passed with a 4-2 vote.
Coeur d'Alene city leaders issued a statement following the vote thanking the health district for the mandate.
"It is with much appreciation that we accept Panhandle Health District’s action to require face coverings within Kootenai County. With this news, the City Council meeting planned for Friday, July 24, 2020 at noon has been cancelled. It is the City’s hope that the spread of the COVID-19 virus will slow to a point where schools can fully re-open in the fall. Please continue to practice health safety standards of wearing face coverings, social distancing, and diligent hand washing in order to slow the transmission of COVID-19 through our community."
The Kootenai County Sheriff's Office also responded to legality of the passage of the mandate in a statement.
"Due to Covid being designated as a pandemic then Panhandle Heath does have the authority to establish rules/orders to help stop the spread of the pandemic. This is established in state law. Not sure what the code is. It would be a misdemeanor violation. With that the stance of the Sheriff is any Covid mask violations would be very low on our priority list and would likely not be enforced unless it was absolutely necessary."
The board began the meeting taking comment from the public. The comment period went well beyond its allotted 20 minutes, with one person having to be escorted out by a sheriff's deputy after she refused to leave once the commenting period was over.
Dr. Richard McLandress, a Health Board member from Kootenai County moved that the board of health approve or authorize the mask mandate, a motion that was seconded by Board Member Walt Kirby from Boundary County.
The mandate requires every person in Kootenai County to wear a face covering that completely covers their nose and mouth when they're in a public place and they can't maintain a distance of six feet.
The CEO of Kootenai County Health Jon Ness, and the Vice President of Hospital Operations Jeremy Evans also spoke at the meeting about how hospital capacity in Kootenai County is faring after a surge of coronavirus cases in North Idaho.
In his statement, Ness explained that there were three coronavirus patients in Kootenai Hospital on July 6. As of Thursday morning, there are 26 patients and three deaths. Ness also said he worried for Idaho's population of vulnerable seniors.
"We are at risk of our long term care facilities becoming a hot spot," Ness said.
Evans explained that Kootenai Health is currently operating on stage three of the hospital's plan for how to manage hospital operations on top of caring for coronavirus patients, who need more resources . In stage 3 the hospital is attempting to catch up with a backlog of care that was deferred in the early stages of the pandemic.
The hospital is on the verge of moving to Phase 2 of operations, should it get 6 more coronavirus patients, Evans said. In Phase 2 the hospital has to get "very creative" with how they allocate resources and and staff, he said.
"We're at a tipping point," Evans said.
The top end of Kootenai Health's capacity is 93 coronavirus patients. At that level, the hospital would stop all elective surgeries.
The hospital is normally at 80-85% capacity, according to a presentation Evans gave to the board. There are 26 beds available for critical care, of which 22 to 24 are taken on a typical day.
"All this demand from COVID sits on top of the normal, necessary health needs of our community," Evans said.