Gov. Little Will Not Demand Schools, Businesses To Close At This Time
During a press conference today, Wednesday, March 18, Governor Little stated that he is not making the closure of schools or businesses mandatory at this point due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Instead, the Governor used words like "discouraged" and "if they can," about discretionary travel and avoiding visiting nursing homes and others.
As for schools, Little said he was not closing them "at this time."
“Right now, our state public health experts and the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) tell us schools should be closed in areas with community spread or immediately surrounding areas of community spread or if the coronavirus has been identified” in their population, he said.
The Idaho Statesman defined community spread is defined as when a virus begins circulating unchecked within a community.
“We’re following (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) guidelines about what the best practices are,” he said. “I’m concerned ... about some of these, I could say, arbitrary decisions in some other areas where they closed everything down. And now the issue about what do you do about child care?”
As of yesterday, there were 9 confirmed cases in Idaho.