In their June 22 meeting, Bethel City Council extended a series of COVID-19 emergency mandates, voted to invite the public back to its meetings, and unanimously approved a slate of other agenda items.
Bethel City Council has been voting to extend a series of COVID-19 emergency measures since the beginning of the pandemic. Every two months, the measures come up for reapproval and reevaluation.
The first item the council voted to continue last night was the mandate declaring the COVID-19 pandemic an emergency. Council members suspended their regular rules of order to hear from Dr. Ellen Hodges, the head of the COVID-19 Response team at the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation. Hodges warned that without a 70% total vaccination rate, the Y-K Delta won’t have herd immunity to the virus. Currently, the region is just over 50% vaccinated. She said that because much of the region is under the age of 12, the youngest age authorized for vaccination, it’s important that as many people as possible over that age get the vaccine.
“As it stands right now, that's a significant portion of our population that can't get vaccinated. We're making steps in the right direction, but it would be our opinion that the the pandemic is not over till it's over,” said Hodges.
Although the COVID-19 emergency mandates were on the agenda before the Delta variant was found in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, the recent detection of that highly-contagious variant, plus the Alpha variant, added a tone of urgency to Hodges’ testimony.
Bethel City Council also voted to extend a mandate requiring unvaccinated people to either get tested or quarantine after returning from out of town travel, and a mandate that prevents water shut off for those who cannot pay their water bill during the pandemic.
City council also voted to invite members of the public back to their meetings. Due to construction at Bethel City Hall, the meetings are currently being held at the ONC multipurpose building. Masks are required, and attendees must keep 6 feet of distance. Most councilmembers were excited to open the meetings back up, but both of the members who work at YKHC expressed wariness at being in an enclosed space with unvaccinated individuals.
“This does make me a little nervous. As Councilmember McCormick said, thinking about unvaccinated people coming in here and maybe not wanting to wear their masks the whole time. So I just really hope that the public will be responsible. Wear your mask, keep your distance, consider getting your vaccine if you haven't yet,” said councilmember Alyssa Leary.
The meetings will continue to be accessible over the phone and via Zoom, and broadcast on KYUK.
During his comment period, City Manager Pete Williams reminded the public to take advantage of the vaccine incentive program. Each person who gets a vaccine at the Bethel Family Clinic after June 14 will receive a $100 gift card for as long as they are available.
Also during the meeting, city council approved city sales tax exemptions for all Elders aged 65 and older that are shopping in Bethel, regardless of where they live. It also approved industrial zoning plans for 18 acres of Bethel Native Corporation land. BNC intends to build a bulk fuel facility near the airport.
And finally, each June will officially be LGTBQ+ Pride Month in Bethel. The council passed the city’s first ever Pride Month resolution during the meeting.
