Cities around the Treasure Valley were already putting measures in place to create social distancing before Gov. Brad Little issued a statewide stay-home order Wednesday.

Nampa had closed playgrounds, city-owned venues and facilities, and Mayor Debbie Kling had requested, but not ordered, restaurants to offer carry-out only or maintain the 6-foot distancing guideline.

"There could come a time when Nampa City Council chooses to mandate certain restrictions," Kling said in a statement emailed March 24. "But for now, we are following the recommendations of our local health authorities and asking each Nampa resident to self-govern."

Kling asked local law enforcement to monitor social gathering places, she said, to make sure people were following social distancing rules.

In Caldwell, the city council on March 24 gave Mayor Garret Nancolas authority through April 20 to enact emergency measures recommended by public health agencies without council approval.

Other cities have been more aggressive in their response to COVID-19.

Boise Mayor Lauren McLean last week issued an order requiring businesses and venues to require “each individual invited into the venue … be accommodated at least six feet away from every other individual.” Businesses that couldn't comply were ordered to close temporarily.

The city of Eagle last week closed playgrounds, and Mayor Jason Pierce signed an emergency order on March 24 calling on residents to stay 6 feet away from each other and restaurants to offer carry-out only.

Some Treasure Valley residents have been ignoring those decrees, an issue that was touched on in Little’s AARP conference call on March 24, with a woman mentioning the crowds seen the weekend prior in Boise’s Camel’s Back Park.

Brandon Atkins, a representative of Central District Health, said there were people who were failing to follow the best practices of social distancing.

“You will still have individuals who buck trends, who don’t want to listen to what those who are closest to the cases want to say, who don’t go to the sources of those facts,” Atkins said.

He noted he wasn’t advocating for a “hyper extreme, hunkered down in a bunker” response either, because even those measures might just keep COVID-19 at bay for a little while.

But Atkins added that to keep the spread of the novel coronavirus at bay, everyone needs to practice social distancing.

“Everyone needs to be doing their part to protect those at highest risk in our community, for your elderly parent or grandparent, and you have to be hypersensitive about it in our community,” Atkins said.

Nancolas last week said he was concerned about how government response to COVID-19 might impact local businesses. He said since Idaho's first case was announced on March 13, several Caldwell business owners have "pleaded with him" not to close businesses as a way to slow the spread of the disease.

Some Nampa residents have been doing their part to maintain as much distance as possible. In an email, Kenton Lee, longtime Nampa resident and founder of nonprofit Because International, said he and his family have stayed at home as much as possible over the last few weeks. He said he gets to-go orders at Flying M Coffeegarage before work, and Because International employees have transitioned to remote work.

"Life will certainly be different these next few months," Lee said in the email.

Lee said he hasn't visited parks or many other public gathering places lately. The one popular area he's noticed is Fred Meyer. Whenever he's stopped to pick up groceries, he said there are always a lot of people.

Another longtime resident Hubert Osborne said in an email that he noticed larger crowds at grocery stores, and there were more people at Osborne Park than normal, though that could be due to the warmer weather. He also said drive-thru restaurants like Chick-fil-A had longer lines of cars than usual.

Osborne said he normally spends much of his time at home, so the advice to stay isolated hasn't been a big adjustment.

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