Earlier this week, Chautauqua County and Jamestown officials declared states of emergency because of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, outbreak.

But what does the state of emergency declaration allow local government officials to do?

Eddie Sundquist, Jamestown mayor, said declaring a state of emergency allows the city more flexibility to allow restrictions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

“We’re taking a lot of direction. We are working with the county Health Department,” Sundquist said. “Because Jamestown is the most densely populated area of the county, it allows for additional restrictions, if needed.”

Sundquist said the only restrictions the city has implemented are those that have been handed down by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who declared a state of emergency March 7. Chautauqua County declared a state of emergency March 15 and Jamestown announced its declaration March 16.

Sundquist said additional restrictions he could place on the city after declaring a state of emergency includes ordering a curfew, closing streets and placing additional restrictions on public gatherings. Cuomo has strongly advised for no gatherings of 50 or more people.

“The state has done this day-by-day,” Sundquist said about the restrictions during the state of emergency.

Sundquist said declaring a state of emergency in Jamestown before a case has been reported locally will also help with the process if someone is affected in the city.

“In case we get an infection we can make changes quickly,” he said.

Declaring a state of emergency also allowed the city to cross-train employees to do other duties in city government. Sundquist said because most employees who work for city government belong to a union, normally there are restrictions on one person doing another’s job. However, because of the state of emergency, workers are allowed to be cross-trained for the responsibilities of other positions.

He said this is especially important now because Cuomo called for a 50% reduction for non-essential workers statewide Wednesday.

“This allows us to be more flexible,” he said.

PJ Wendel, Chautauqua County executive, said the purpose of declaring a state of emergency allows county officials to render all required assistance to municipalities and school districts in the county. For example, Wendel said this was important to do in the county to assist schools because, at the time, it was unknown whether districts still had to meet the minimum 180 days for a school year.

“They didn’t know if they would be held accountable if they closed before a state of emergency was declared,” Wendel said. “If a state of emergency is declared, then schools could close on their own discretion. Our recommendation (on Sunday) was Wednesday and they closed on Monday.”

Wendel said it’s not unusually for a state of emergency to be declared, which typically occurs in the county after a blizzard, a tornado or when Superstorm Sandy occurred. However, the coronavirus is an uncommon situation for county officials because its unlike a weather storm.

“This is a unique and unprecedented state of emergency for something that is not a physical situation. We’ve had Hurricane Sandy, blizzards and tornadoes. We haven’t had an invisible hurricane. Something we can’t see,” he said. “No one remembers anything like this happening before. At least not for as long as people can remember.”

Wendel said the county’s state of emergency is good for 30 days at that point officials will examine whether it needs to be extended or not.

UPMC VISITATION

Effective immediately, all visitation to UPMC Chautauqua has been suspended except when medically necessary, which means when a visitor is essential to the care of the patient or for family members or legal representatives of patients in imminent end-of-life situations, according to Karen Beardsley, UPMC public relations manager. Any visitors meeting these exceptions must be screened for symptoms like cough, shortness of breath or fever, or potential exposure to someone with COVID-19 and the duration and number of visits should be minimized.

NEW MANDATE

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday he is requiring many businesses in New York to decrease their in-office workforce by 50%, the latest in a series of restrictions to keep the virus from spreading.

He said the executive order, effective Friday, will exempt essential services including media, warehousing, grocery and food production, pharmacies, health care providers, utilities and banks, and other industries critical to the supply chain.

The state already has similar work-from-home rules for public workers.

Cuomo said that he understood the order will be a burden to business, but that dealing with the unprecedented health crisis at hand is the priority.