Prior to their budget workshop on Tuesday evening the Wrangell Borough Assembly held an emergency meeting to pass an ordinance establishing quarantine requirements for out of state travelers. Emergency Ordinance No. 978, according to the agenda packet for the meeting, requires that travelers from outside of Alaska, or outside of the United States, quarantine for two weeks when they come to Wrangell. However, this quarantine can be bypassed if the traveler in question has proof of a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of their arrival to Wrangell.
This ordinance comes in response to the state government's plans to remove their interstate travel guidelines on Friday, June 5, according to Borough Manager Lisa Von Bargen. The state, Mayor Steve Prysunka said, is not really keeping municipalities safe by opening up. They want people to take COVID-19 tests before entering Alaska or right after they land, but they are not really going to enforce it. With that in mind, he felt that Wrangell needed to take it upon itself to do so. Essentially, Prysunka said, they want to tell travellers they can either get tested when they come to Wrangell, or they can quarantine.
For the most part, the borough assembly approved of this ordinance. However, they did have a few issues with its passage that evening. Assembly Members Mya DeLong, Anne Morrison, Julie Decker, and David Powell said they felt the item should be postponed a few days. This would allow for increased public input on the matter. Several assembly members also brought up the issue of the ordinance not having any teeth to it. They were not sure how the city could enforce this ordinance.
After some discussion, the assembly decided that it would be best to postpone a vote on this item until the public had a longer chance to give their input. They voted to postpone the item until Thursday evening.
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