Governor Kay Ivey’s new public health order is set to take effect Thursday at 5:00 p.m. The order allows for the reopening of retail stores and beaches, as well as a return to performing elective surgeries. Barbershops, hair salons, gyms and seating at restaurants all remain closed.
Ivey’s move was generally lauded by the state’s leaders.
ASAP. One of those heaping praise on Ivey was Alabama Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh (R-Anniston). Several weeks ago, Marsh announced his own plan for reopening. It involved a complete reopening on May 1, with continued protection for older and more vulnerable Alabamians. On Tuesday, Marsh released a statement saying, “I applaud Governor Ivey for taking the first steps to reopen Alabama for business. It was the right thing to do and I look forward to continuing to monitor the situation as we work to reopen all businesses in Alabama as soon as possible.”
To Trump or not to Trump? For weeks, Ivey and State Health Officer Scott Harris had said they were going to follow President Donald Trump’s lead on reopening. As recently as Friday, Harris maintained that decision-makers would proceed based on guidelines handed down by the Trump White House.
Until they did not.
Harris outlined at Tuesday’s press conference that Alabama did not meet the White House criteria for proceeding to “Phase One” of reopening. He said, “We are not proceeding to the full Phase One opening consistent with the White House plan.” According to Harris, Alabama has not met the requirement of having a downward trajectory of cases for 14 consecutive days.
Instead, Ivey and Harris built their own guidelines apart from Trump’s. The activities they reopened which are part of Trump’s first phase are elective surgeries and other non-essential retail stores. Trump’s plan also calls for keeping closed schools which are already closed, which Ivey and Harris followed.
Entities which Ivey and Harris chose not to reopen, but are included in Trump’s first phase of reopening, includes places of worship, gyms, restaurants and movie theaters.
They indicated on numerous occasions that reopening Alabama would be a data-driven decision. It would appear they knew they had to do something based upon the most important piece of data available, the fact that more than 344,000 Alabamians have filed for unemployment since mid-March. This would explain Ivey and Harris’ approach to picking and choosing some businesses to reopen rather than sticking to the strict Trump guidelines and solely considering health data.
Tim Howe is an owner of Yellowhammer Multimedia
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