Mayor of Lake Stevens recommends restricting shopping by last name

LAKE STEVENS, Wash. — Lake Stevens Mayor Brett Gailey is recommending that community members conduct essential activities by last name during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Gailey issued an emergency stay-at-home order for the city Monday afternoon. Later that day, Gov. Jay Inslee issued an emergency statewide stay-at-home order with some exceptions for “essential businesses.”

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In an attempt to clarify his emergency order, Gailey took to Facebook to explain that his concerns centered largely on the increased numbers of people congregating at grocery stores and retail stores that are still open.

“For this reason, I established the RECOMMENDATION of conducting our essential activities by a division of our last names,” Gailey wrote.

Gailey said he did not expect businesses to police the recommendation, but explained that he thinks Lake Stevens residents can work “within the concept of the order.”

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The mayor went on to say that anyone with an “absolute need” to get groceries, care for a family member, etc. should continue to do so but asked for people to use common sense “in helping community members create additional social distance space.”

As of 2 p.m. Wednesday, the Snohomish County Health District reported 634 confirmed coronavirus cases with 16 deaths.

As of 6:20 p.m. Wednesday, the Washington State Department of Health reported 2580 confirmed coronavirus cases with 132 deaths.

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