PANDEMIC

PANDEMIC. On March 16th the following announcement was made:

          At tonight’s City Council meeting, Dubuque Mayor Roy D. Buol will declare a state of emergency in Dubuque 
          in response to the coronavirus.

          At this time, there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Dubuque County but the proclamation follows the 
          Iowa Department of Public Health’s (IDPH) notification of community spread of the virus in Iowa and 
          recommendation of the immediate implementation of mitigation measures to slow the spread of the virus, as 
          well as Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds’ recommendation that all Iowa schools close for four weeks. 

          “One of the greatest responsibilities of an elected official is the protection of the electorate served and 
          the protection of the greater public health and safety,” stated Boul. “I hereby determine that a state of 
          emergency or public danger exists.”

          Through tonight’s proclamation, Mayor Buol is prohibiting gatherings of 50 or more people on public property 
          and strongly suggests private gatherings of 50 or more people on private property should be avoided. The 
          proclamation follows a statement last week encouraging social distancing.

          In addition, the proclamation also orders the closure of some City buildings, for the protection of residents 
          and city staff.  Specifically, the City of Dubuque is closing the following City buildings to public access 
          beginning Tuesday, March 17, through at least Sunday, April 12:

                              City Hall, 50 W. 13th St.
                              City Hall Annex, 1300 Main St.
                              Housing & Community Development Department, Historic Federal Building, 350 W 6th St.
                              Leisure Services Department Office and Bunker Hill Golf Course, 2200 Bunker Hill Rd.
                              Municipal Services Center, 925 Kerper Ct.
                              Multicultural Family Center, 1157 Central Ave
                              Comiskey Park Building, 255 E. 24th St.
                              Allison Henderson Park Building, 1500 Loras Blvd.

           City staff in these buildings will continue to work and provide services to the public electronically, 
           by phone, by mail, and when necessary, by appointment. Details on payment options for utility bills, parking 
           tickets, and all permits and fees will be announced tomorrow. 

           Additionally, all City of Dubuque Leisure Services recreational programs and Multicultural Family Center (MFC) 
           programs are cancelled through at least April 12. City staff will contact those registered and offer refunds 
           and/or credits. Registration for summer programs will not begin until at least April 13. Please note, all 
           meetings and other gatherings scheduled at the Comiskey Park building and the Allison Henderson building are 
           cancelled. During the shutdown, City staff will be sanitizing all areas of each of these facilities.

           City staff is currently working on a method that would allow the MFC’s Food Pantry scheduled for Friday, 
           March 20, to continue -- while keeping both the pantry participants, volunteers, and staff protected by following 
           the protocols of the CDC and IDPH. City staff will be corresponding with Food Pantry participants to provide updates. 

           For information and questions related to City services and programs, please contact the appropriate City department 
           or submit a request through the City’s Citizen Support Center at www.cityofdubuque.org. 

           For information about Coronavirus (COVID-19), visit https://idph.iowa.gov/Emerging-Health-Issues/Novel-Coronavirus.  
           For Dubuque County specific information, call the Dubuque Visiting Nurses Association at 563.556.6200 (8 a.m. – 4:30 
           p.m., Monday-Friday), the Dubuque County Health Department at 563.557.7396 (8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday), or 
           the City of Dubuque Health Services Department at 563.589.4181(8 a.m. – 5 p.m., Monday-Friday).

The immediate cause of the announcement was a similar statement made by Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds on March 15th and similar statements coming from the White House in the previous days. The root of the issue was coronavirus, a disease which had reached pandemic proportions. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defined pandemic as "an outbreak of a disease that occurs over a wide geographic area and affects an exceptionally high proportion of the population. Believed to have originated in China, the disease spread worldwide leading to a national lockdown in Italy, repeated requests by public health officials in the United States to limit travel and practice self-quarantine if recently outside the United States, accusations that it was simply a Democratic Party attempt to deny Donald Trump a re-election to the presidency, and most recently the shutdown of many high profile public events, sporting events, and public schools in the eastern United States.

On March 14, 2020 the closest of Iowa's seventeen cases was in Iowa City, in Wisconsin was in Dane County, and in Illinois McHenry County--a two hour drive from Jo Daviess County. Despite this, some restaurants like PANERA BREAD COMPANY pre-packaged packets of powdered creamer and sugar for customers, shoppers at HyVee were unable to use cloth bags for groceries, and clerks giving change at WALGREEN COMPANY wore gloves. (1) Mary Rose Corrigan, the public health specialist for the City of Dubuque, maintained it was not a question of "if" but when the disease would reach Dubuque. Wisconsin and Illinois announced all schools would be closed until March 30th. (2) After four more cases of the virus were discovered in Iowa, Governor Reynolds stated all schools should close for four weeks. (3) Such caution coincided with a study by United Kingdom epidemiologists that attempts to slow or mitigate--rather than actively halt or suppress--the virus could overwhelm the number of intensive care hospital beds and lead to an estimated 250,000 deaths in the UK and over a million in the United States. (4)

As late at March, the United States was significantly slow in testing people for the disease. White House efforts included reducing $15 billion in national health spending and cutting the global disease-fighting operational budgets of the CDC, NSC, DHS, and HHS. The federal government’s $30 million Complex Crises Fund was eliminated. In 2017 and 2018, the philanthropist billionaire Bill Gates met repeatedly with John Bolton and his predecessor, H.R. McMaster, warning that ongoing cuts to the global health disease infrastructure would render the United States vulnerable to the “significant probability of a large and lethal modern-day pandemic occurring in our lifetimes.” An independent, bipartisan panel formed by the Center for Strategic and International Studies concluded that lack of preparedness was so acute in the Trump administration that the “United States must either pay now and gain protection and security or wait for the next epidemic and pay a much greater price in human and economic costs.”(5) Repeated assurances from the President that "this will just go away" and claims by his supporters that the disease was a "hoax," caused the total number of tests given in months in the United States to be far less than South Korean health officials were giving daily. Getting precise figures also met such challenges as Vermont no longer reporting non-Vermont resident cases of the virus. (6) Rapidly losing ground were attempts to trace the passage of the disease as it became "community spread" meaning people cannot identify how or where they became infected. (7)

Governor Reynold's proclamation of a "public health disaster emergency" ordered the closing of the state's bars and dine-in restaurants until March 31. Curbside, carry-out, and drive-through food service would be allowed. The declaration also closed all fitness centers, theaters, casinos and gaming facilities, senior citizen centers and adult day care facilities. it prohibited gatherings of more than ten people including social, community, spiritual, religious, recreational, leisure and sporting events. (8)

It was fair to say that nearly every occasion at which a crowd might be expected was either called off or about to be canceled by Tuesday, March 17th. The ARCHDIOCESE OF DUBUQUE following the example of many other churches which experienced either no services or very light attendance on Sunday announced that public celebrations of Mass would be canceled beginning March 19th. Parishioners could watch a live video of the archbishop delivering Mass at 9:00 a.m. each Sunday. He would also lead the rosary every Thursday. Further information could be obtained at DBQArch.org. (9) FIRST CONGREGATIONAL UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST also announced video services. Like other organizations, the CARNEGIE-STOUT PUBLIC LIBRARY maintained a reduced staff, but closed the library at noon on March 17th.

Unique efforts at maintaining some degree of normal activity included those of the Carnegie-Stout Library. One March 18th the following notice was made by email from their website:

                        Use the library’s catalog www.dubuque.lib.ia.usto search for materials that you 
                        want to check out. Place a hold on the titles that you would like. Please limit 
                        the number to 5 items per visit.  It will typically take a day to pull the items 
                        and check them out to you. Stop by the library during curbside delivery hours 
                        (Monday-Friday, Noon –6:30 p.m. and Saturday, 9:00 a.m. –2:00p.m.) and telephone 
                        us at 589-4225 to let us know you are here for your hold.  We will run the material 
                        out to you. The pick-up location is Locust Street at the area where there is a short 
                        drive way, with no parking meter. Please have your library card with you or a photo 
                        ID. If you do not have access to the online catalog, call the library at 589-4225 for 
                        help placing a hold, or identifying a book to read. (10)

Financial markets continued the radical swings seen for over a week. On March 17th after a government suggestion that checks might be mailed to everyone to mitigate job loss the Dow-Jones rose over 1,000 points. All of that was given up the next morning as another sell-off left the market just over 20,000--down over 9,000 points in less than two months. The investment firm of Basepoint Wealth offered a webinar on how to react to the first bear market in ten years. At the end of the day, March 18, the market had closed below 20,000.

Local businesses mirroring an action taken nationally stepped up the practice of employees working from home. Brad Pinchuk, president and CEO of Hirschbach Motor Lines, began requiring all workers to work remotely at least one day during the week of March 14th to have the experience. All office personnel were then given the opportunity to continue at home "for the foreseeable future." Those remaining in the office were required to clean their work stations multiple times per day and not to go out for lunch. The company had food brought to the office. DUBUQUE BANK AND TRUST COMPANY announced that all banking lobbies would be closed with the exception of its KENNEDY MALL and Farley Banking Center locations. All drive-through services remained open. Customers were encouraged to conduct transactions via mobile and online avenues whenever possible. The sudden increase in the number of residents working remotely led to the concern that the use could exceed the limits of the region's internet capacity. Richard E. (Rick) DICKINSON, president and CEO of the GREATER DUBUQUE DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION believed recent enhancement of the broadband infrastructure, extending access to rural areas and increased system redundancy would provide the needed flexibility. (11)

On Thursday, March 19, the DUBUQUE COUNTY COURTHOUSE was closed to the public. The following announcement was made by email:

                          The City of Dubuque is temporarily suspending water shut-offs on past-due. 
                          This will not alleviate the bill as late fees will continue to be charged 
                          until the balances are addressed. 

As of March 21, 2020, Dubuque County had reported one case of the virus, while the State of Iowa announced the number statewide was 68. (12)

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Source:

1. Personal observations of the author

2. Hinga, Allie, "Pandemic Impacts Spread Locally," Telegraph Herald, March 14, 2020, p. 1A

3. Des Moines Register, "Reynolds: All Iowa Schools Should Close," Telegraph Herald, March 16, 2020, p. 1A

4. Walsh, Nick Paton, "U.S., UK Coronavirus Strategies Shifted Following UK Epidemiologists Ominous Report," CNN, March 17, 2020

5. Garret, Laurie, "Trump Has Sabotaged America’s Coronavirus Response," Voice, January 31, 2020, Online: https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/31/coronavirus-china-trump-united-states-public-health-emergency-response/

6. Hassan, Carma, "Vermont is Changing the Way it Reports Cases," CNN, March 17, 2020

7. Des Moines Register

8. Barton, Thomas J. "Iowa Adds Restrictions," Telegraph Herald, March 18, 2020, p. 1A

9. Kruse, John, "Dubuque Archdiocese: No Masses Starting Thursday," Telegraph Herald, March 17, 2020, p. 3A

10. Carnegie-Stout Public Library website "FAQ"

11. Montgomery, Jeff, "Local Companies Get Serious About Remote Working," Telegraph Herald, March 18, 2020, p. 1A

12. KWWL News