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Idaho Governor Announces Four-Stage Reopening Plan

State of Idaho

Idaho Governor Brad Little has announced a four-stage plan for re-opening the state’s businesses and communities after closures due to the coronavirus.

“The first stage will be almost all the retail and houses of faith. The second stage will be restaurants. The third stage will be bars," Little said.

The fourth stage will allow even larger gatherings with the appropriate physical distancing.

The first stage is scheduled to take effect May 1.

Little says the state has created a detailed plan that will guide what will open and when.

“The first stage will be almost all the retail and houses of faith. The second stage will be restaurants. The third stage will be bars," Little said.

The fourth stage will allow even larger gatherings with the appropriate physical distancing.

Little says each stage will be allowed to run for two weeks, with state officials monitoring health-related information. If the confirmed cases curve continues to flatten, the state will move to the next stage. If there are spikes, it will adjust accordingly.

“Everybody that wants to stay open has got a big incentive to be as cooperative and continue the behavior they’ve had in the past for us to get there," he said.

The plan is available at a new state website: Rebound.Idaho.gov.

Along with that, Little announced the creation of an Economic Rebound Advisory Committee to decide what steps the state will need to take to rebuild employee and consumer confidence.

If all goes as planned, and Little says that’s a big if, the state could be mostly open by the end of June. But, he cautions, Idaho won’t fully be back to normal until there’s a vaccine for the coronavirus.