Gov. Little on what's next for Idahoans: 'We will not return to normal April 16'

“Governor Brad Little addressed extending Idaho’s stay home order, as well as concerns over those going against it, during a teleconference on Tuesday.

The weekly Town Hall, hosted by AARP Idaho, allowed Idahoans to ask the governor and top health officials questions about the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the state, 1,170 confirmed cases have been reported.

“We will not return to normal on April 16,” Little said, when asked whether the stay home order would be extended. 

Right now, the 21-day order is set to expire on April 15. He says the state’s working group is still looking at what to do moving forward.

“I will predict with pretty good confidence that something will continue on,” he said. The governor said Idahoans will likely see the impacts of the pandemic for a long time to come. “Until we get a good vaccine, until we have a good therapeutic, until we have herd immunity, some things are going to have to take place,” he said.

The governor also said Idaho is nearing the point of when they will start to see the impacts of stay home orders. 

“We’ve seen it in Blaine County,” when asked about when Idaho will see a flattening of the curve," he said. “Blaine County was the first place that had community spread, and as a result it was the first place that there was an order put in.”

Governor Little addressed some groups that are going against the stay home order. “Once in awhile something will pop up about a group of people,” Governor Little said. “That makes headlines, primarily because there’s not much of it going on.”

“I did not do this order at all lightly,” he said, saying he researched the US constitution, Idaho’s constitution, and laws in Idaho. “With very, very high confidence, I did what I did legally and constitutionally,” he said. “But more importantly it’s the right thing to do for the safety of Idaho.”

The governor also argued that taking no action would have resulted in a greater loss of liberty. 

“A pandemic running amok without any control is a disaster for the loss of a lot of liberties, which is a lot more significant than some of the issues,” he said.”

No matter your opinion, please email or call Governor Little. Let him hear from "we the people" as to what Idaho should be doing after April 15th. 208-334-2100 or governor@gov.idaho.gov

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