Read the full text of Anchorage’s emergency order removing capacity restrictions on businesses Author: Anchorage Daily News “Make it a Safe Spring” ISSUED BY THE ACTING MAYOR OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF ANCHORAGE PURSUANT TO ANCHORAGE MUNICIPAL CODE SECTION 3.80.060H. Due to the individual actions of residents, the collective sacrifices required by our previous emergency orders, and a successful start of vaccination, the COVID-19 burden on our healthcare system has been reduced and Anchorage COVID-19 case counts have fallen to the level last seen in September 2020. This improvement warrants another careful loosening of restrictions. In order to preserve lives in our community, Anchorage must loosen restrictions in a way consistent with public health. In the month of March, public schools will continue a return to the classroom with secondary students, so more community members will be gathering relative to this fall. Fortunately, our frontline health care staff and many vulnerable Alaskans are fully vaccinated, reducing the strain on hospital staffing. Many of our educators have also been vaccinated. But a large majority of Anchorage is unvaccinated, and many still patiently wait to be eligible. We are aware of new, more contagious variants of COVID-19, which have already been detected in Anchorage. These more contagious variants make it more important than ever that six feet of physical distance really is a full six feet, and that masks comprising multiple layers are worn properly covering both the nose and mouth. The increasing rate of virus mutation since the beginning of the pandemic also increases the need to minimize virus transmission as each new infection is a new opportunity for the virus to mutate in ways that make it more likely to escape vaccine-induced antibodies. This order is designed to reduce restrictions while keeping the virus from reaching catastrophic levels.