BY ANDY GARDNER
North Country This Week

The 2020 Bassmaster Elite tournament is in limbo.

Local public health experts and St. Lawrence County legislators discussed concerns about bringing anglers to the area from states that are seeing an explosion of COVID-19 cases, some of which are going so far as to return to full lockdown measures.

Officials also talked about the lack of clear guidance from the state with respect to professional athletes.

The discussions took place during the board’s Finance Committee meeting held June 29 via Zoom and streamed live on YouTube.

No Clear Guidance from NYS

St. Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Brooke Rouse said 40% of the anglers and Bassmaster crew come from hotspot states. Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently announced all travelers to New York from a handful of states with skyrocketing coronavirus infections must be quarantined for 14 days upon their arrival here.

Rouse noted that Bassmaster is planning three tournaments for this month around New York, and they would have to arrive by July 1 to meet the requirement to fish in the earliest event on Cayuga Lake. She is waiting for clarification from the state on whether or not the pro anglers would be subject to the 14-day requirement because they are traveling here for an essential purpose -- their livelihoods.

“I don’t know if they’re going to be willing to quarantine for 14 days, but I think they’re open to a reasonable quarantine and testing protocol … it’s getting close on time,” she said July 1. “We are cautious of inviting travelers here, and certainly from those hot spots. We also recognize people are traveling … in and out of the county from those states and they’re essentially all free agents under the honor system to provide.”

“We need guidance on whether or not this is going to be allowed. You can’t wait until the last minute because of all the contractual agreements that have to be made … and all the things that go along with this,” Legislator Joe Lightfoot, R-Ogdensburg, said during the Monday, June 29 meeting.

Legislator Tony Arquiett, D-Helena, urged the board to seek an official decision on the tournament from either the state or the local Emergency Operations Center.

“I would support our chairman urging the state or EOC to make a decision on the Bassmaster. We’re three weeks out,” he said.

“My perspective is if there’s a way to do it safely … while also providing economic benefits, we should at least consider it,” Rouse said. She said a recent analysis by a committee working with Bassmaster projects a $100,000 local economic impact if the tournament has no spectators. She said about $80,000 of that is projected in spending on lodging alone, and fuel was not factored into their estimate.

She also noted that there are discussions to plan the event with no spectators, and instead restaurants hosting small watch parties for the broadcasted weigh-ins.

“We’re partnering with restaurants to show the tournament live so they can hold their own watch events within the guidelines for restaurants, and get that money flowing back to restaurants across the county,” she said.

Current statewide pro sports guidelines can be read here.

Public Health Precautions a Big Concern

Rouse said public health precautions come before anything else.

“The number one is public health. We don’t want people to think we’re out here just money grabbing,” she said during a Wednesday, July 1 phone call with North Country This Week.

“Because New York state has made these regulations that are beyond what the county is in control of, I’m not sure [the decision to hold or cancel the event] is going to be a decision that’s going to be made locally,” said Dr. Andrew Williams, St. Lawrence County Board of Health president. “I can’t say as a physician and public health expert that bringing people from a high-risk area is going to decrease the risk of COVID.”

“There have been phone calls with Bassmasters, those who kind of lead it here in the county, and county officials. There have been no answers. We’ve talked about some of the safety issues, some of the gathering restrictions,” said Dr. Dana McGuire, St. Lawrence County Public Health director. “It’s difficult to say at this time because we’re still in discussion whether [the tournament] happens or not."

She noted that many anglers come from states with high rates of coronavirus transmission, like Florida and Georgia.

Legislator Dave Forsythe, R-Lisbon, said he has been fielding calls from constituents who are concerned that the tournament participants could spread the disease in the North Country, where the local infection rate has recently plummeted.

He came out strongly in favor of canceling the Elite tournament this year.

“I heard two weeks ago they were in Alabama, one of the hot spots. And it’s a two-week incubation period” before COVID-19 symptoms can show, he said. “Bassmaster’s publication has about 3 or 4 million subscriptions. Buy a full-page ad for a few thousand bucks and say ‘See you next year on the St. Lawrence River. We had to cancel for the safety of our citizens.”

Legislator John Burke, R-Norfolk, wanted to know if there’s a plan in place to test Bassmaster anglers, and if not, then why?

McGuire said the only state requirement for travelers from high-transmission areas is to quarantine for two weeks after arriving in New York. That means the anglers would have to arrive here soon in order to meet the mandate.

“For those people who come here from one of the states in the advisory, if they get tested and the test result is negative we still need to quarantine,” McGuire said. “Your test result is only as good as that day.”

She also said there are a lot of unknowns, and county public health officials are still in the process of understanding Bassmaster’s plan.

“The discussions we’ve had so far is to learn what their plan is and how it’s been modified from previous years,” McGuire said. “They have many ideas about what they would like to do.”

A big challenge with COVID is transmission from those who have the coronavirus but remain asymptomatic. McGuire noted that of the 23 people in St. Lawrence County who tested positive for the virus since phase one began, 18 of them never showed symptoms.

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