Julia O'Malley, Alaska's Energy Desk - Anchorage

Seven people have tested positive for COVID-19 at the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson testing center, according to a Facebook post on Sunday night.

The Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson installation commander has declared a public health emergency due to an elevated risk on the base for “sustained community transmission,” the post said.

The state reported that there were 32 positive cases of the virus as of Sunday night. Thirteen of those cases are in Anchorage.

Last week, the base reported that one of the Anchorage positives was a JBER airman. It was not clear if that case was related to the others.

https://www.facebook.com/JBERAK/posts/2776425765744342

Among the measures to tighten control of movement on the post:

• The Government Hill gate will be closed.
• The Post Road gate will be closed to private auto traffic.
• The Arctic Valley gate will be closed on weekends.

All who tested positive are in isolation and their contacts are being traced, the base said.

People on the joint base are restricted to “mission essential travel,” meaning: “work in critical jobs;” buying groceries, health care appointments; dropping off or picking up children from care and getting fresh air “while observing 6-foot social distancing between non-family members,” the post said.

Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz ordered Anchorage residents to “hunker down” and limit travel to essential errands on Friday. That order went into effect on Sunday night.

JBER officials have scheduled a virtual town hall meeting about COVID-19 for 2 p.m. Monday.

 

Update (Tuesday, March 17, 7:20 p.m.) — Liz Ruskin, Alaska Public Media

In a Tuesday evening news conference, Alaska Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anne Zink announced that there are three new confirmed COVID-19 cases in Alaska, bringing the total number of cases to six. Along with the case in Ketchikan, there is one new case in Anchorage and one in Fairbanks. (Read more)

Original story

The Ketchikan Emergency Operations Center reported a positive test for COVID-19 on Tuesday.

The individual who tested positive has a history of travel to the Lower 48, the operations center said in a written statement.

“Upon experiencing symptoms of illness, the individual self-isolated and sought testing through a Ketchikan clinic. The individual is an employee of the Ketchikan Gateway Borough,” the statement said.

The borough said it has hired a commercial service for a thorough disinfection of the entirety of the White Cliff Building, the borough’s headquarters, including the outside areas of the building.

“Borough employees in direct contact with the individual will be self-isolating for a period of no less than 14 days. Employees who were not in contact with the individual may return to work sooner,” the borough’s statement said.

This is the fourth positive test for coronavirus in Alaska in a week. Two men who traveled out of state tested positive Monday in Fairbanks. The first case was announced Thursday in Anchorage. That patient was a cargo pilot who had recently arrived in the city.

This new case in Ketchikan is the first reported case in Southeast Alaska.

“We will be working with Alaska (Division of) Public Health and ensuring that we get word out to the public that we have a confirmed case,” Abner Hoage, Ketchikan emergency manager and fire chief, said Monday evening.

The state will begin contacting everyone who came in contact with the man, Hoage said.

KRBD-Ketchikan reporter Eric Stone contributed to this story.

Update (Wednesday, March 18, 2:21 p.m.) — Abbey Collins, Alaska Public Media

State officials are taking additional steps to slow the spread of COVID-19 from people traveling to the state. (Read more)

Original story

The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services issued an advisory Sunday recommending Alaskans returning to the state from other countries and other states practice varying degrees of isolation to halt the spread of coronavirus.

It classifies returning travelers in two categories: higher risk and medium risk. It recommends different isolation considerations for each group.

It defines higher risk travelers as those returning to Alaska within 14 days from the time they left an area with “widespread, ongoing community spread” of coronavirus such as Europe, China and other countries classified as Level 3 by the CDC.

Higher risk travelers returning to the state should:

• Stay home and avoid contact with other household members.
• Contact their employer and stay home from work or school for a 14-day period after they return.

It defines medium risk travelers as those returning to Alaska within 14 days from anywhere Outside, including the rest of the United States.

Medium risk travelers returning to Alaska should:

• Discuss their work situation with their employer before returning to work.
• Minimize contact with people as much as possible, self-monitor and practice social distancing.

“This may mean not going to work or school if you cannot safely be distanced from others – especially if you traveled in a location where community transmission is occurring,” the health recommendation said.

The department issued the following guidance for higher and medium risk returning travelers:

• Take your temperature with a thermometer two times a day and monitor for fever. Also watch for cough or trouble breathing.
• Do not take mass transportation during the time you are practicing social distancing.
• Avoid crowded places (such as shopping centers and movie theaters) and limit your activities in public.
• Keep your distance from others (about 6 feet or 2 meters).
• If you get sick with fever (>100.3°F), cough, or shortness of breath, please call your health care provider.
• If you seek medical care for other reasons, such as dialysis, call ahead to your doctor and tell them about your recent travel.

 

The state of Alaska put out a request this week “seeking information from interested parties for providing housing units that are quarantined to allow for monitoring for COVID-19.”

“The State wishes to identify companies that are capable of providing the housing units and gain an understanding of the potential project cost for budgeting purposes,” the request said.

The state is seeking “motel rooms, apartments, trailers, or other suitable dwellings,” the request said. The units must be located so the general public can avoid interaction with those being quarantined, it said. Apartments or hotels may not be suitable if there is a common hallway, for example.

Outside of Alaska, many communities with a large number of patients in quarantine have repurposed buildings to provide temporary space. King County in Washington, which is a center of the West Coast coronavirus outbreak, for example, is in the process of purchasing an EconoLodge in the suburban community of Kent to house patients, a move that has been controversial with some of its neighbors.

The state’s Chief Medical Officer Anne Zink said that the housing wouldn’t necessarily be in one place, but there may be a variety of options that it could be used for including people who are homeless, people who need to disembark from cruise ships, people who can’t be quarantined in their homes or people traveling through the state for some other reason.

“We want to make sure we are nimble,” she said.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy said the state is assessing all potential resources.

Alaska Public Media reporter Nat Herz contributed to this report.

 

Southcentral Alaska has barely had any measurable precipitation since the beginning of June. That has led to unprecedented extreme drought conditions.

But according to the National Weather Service, residents may finally get at least a little relief. Two low pressure systems are headed toward Anchorage in the coming week.

The first will move through early in the weekend, said Anchorage meteorologist Benjamin Bartos.

“So we’ll see some areas of rain, but it won’t pack a very big punch, but should at least provide a bit of a break into this sustained high pressure system that has been keeping us so dry,” he said.

The second weather system is expected late Sunday or early Monday and will be a little stronger, Bartos said. After that, the longer-term forecast is for wetter weather.

“So there’s some hope on the horizon to actually start being more rainy, not necessarily playing catch-up because we’re quite far behind. But we’ll have an opportunity to have weather we’re used to having here in Anchorage,” he said.

The monthly average for rain in August is more than 3 inches, but so far the city has had only a tenth of an inch.