Town Council lets state of emergency expire amid decline in COVID-19 infections

As COVID-19 cases continue to decline, the Town Council agreed Tuesday to let its local state of emergency expire.

First announced on July 27 in response to a surge of infections fueled by the highly transmissible Delta variant, the emergency declaration gave the council wider powers to combat the spread of the COVID-19 virus, though those powers were limited and applied only to decisions regarding the format of meetings for boards and committees.

In an executive order issued May 3, Gov. Ron DeSantis invalidated local COVID-19 emergency orders, which the town had used earlier in the pandemic to close beaches, institute a local mask mandate and enact a curfew.

The emergency declaration was extended in August and September, but council members agreed to let it expire Tuesday as new cases and positivity rates continue to decline throughout the county and state. 

"We do not need it," Council President Maggie Zeidman said. "The positivity rate was 5% for the last week. That's really great. It's probably going to be under 5% this week, and we would expect to see that trend going down to get back to where we were in June, which was 2%."

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To help prevent transmission, that figure should be below 5%, town officials say.

In its weekly report issued Friday, the Florida Department of Health noted an increase of 25,792 new coronavirus infections during the previous seven days, down from the 37,772 that were reported the previous week.

Positivity rates also have fallen statewide, with 4.8% of coronavirus test results documented over the past week coming back positive. The previous week's positivity rate was 6.5%

New case positivity in Palm Beach County is 5.0%, down from 6.5% the previous week.

Those numbers represent a steep decline from where they were during the summer, when weekly cases were topping 100,000 regularly and positivity rates hovered near 20%.

"The Delta variant went through the county, the state and the nation like a wildfire," Fire Chief Darrel Donatto told council members Tuesday. "It rapidly took over. But the good news is that rapid pace did two things. It spurred some folks who were not vaccinated to get vaccinated. And it also created a lot of acquired immunity in those who were infected. We're seeing a dramatic decline now in infections."

Town officials continue to encourage residents, visitors and staff to get vaccinated if they haven't already done so.

"The bottom line is, being vaccinated is the best protection," Donatto said. "If a booster becomes available, it's certainly recommended getting that. It's really important."

Also Tuesday, council members agreed to authorize boards and commission to return to council chambers for their October meetings, citing the continuing decline in COVID-19 infections.

The Architectural Commission, Landmarks Preservation Commission, Code Enforcement Board and Retirement Trustee Board met remotely in August and September, but will return to in-person meetings this month with a quorum present.

Commission members will be permitted to participate virtually this month, but are expected to return to council chambers in November, Zeidman said.

Council members also discussed the possibility of the town discontinuing its Zoom remote participation option for public meetings, but agreed that choice would remain at least for another month, barring a new surge in cases.

"Unless something happens with a variant, we'll make the change," Zeidman said.

Jodie Wagner is a USA TODAY Network of Florida journalist. You can reach her at jwagner@pbdailynews.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

@JRWagner5