"Through my reporting and series Tongass Voices and Lingít Word of the Week, I tell stories about people who have shaped -- and continue to shape -- the landscape of this place we live."
In this newscast:
Meals on Wheels is run by Southeast Senior Services, which serves Juneau’s aging population, 60 years and older. The program is low on volunteers these days and is down two kitchen staff positions. To meet the need in Juneau, existing volunteers have picked up extra shifts.
Meals on Wheels is part of Catholic Community Service. The meals can be delivered to anyone who is homebound or has mobility issues.
Matt Walker, who runs the program, said that while the remaining volunteers are stepping up, he’s worried they may burn out.
“They’ve just taken time out of their own schedules and said ‘the need is greater than my free time,’” Walker said.
Running these meal delivery routes does more for Juneau’s seniors than simply dropping off food. The volunteers also serve as a wellness check on individuals with vulnerable health, and a moment of social interaction each day for those who don’t always get it, especially during the pandemic.
Walker said that the rising cost of gas may be scaring some potential volunteers from the job; it requires a lot of driving. But that might not be the whole story because the program has struggled to fill volunteer positions since the start of the pandemic.
View this post on Instagram
“It’s one of those things that unless you’re using it or you know someone that uses it, you don’t realize that it’s happening behind the scenes,” Walker said.
He’s worried that this current lack of volunteers will jeopardize their two-year streak of never missing a delivery.
People interested in volunteering can call 907-463-6179 or email Catholic Community Service.
In this newscast:
Cases of COVID-19 in Juneau are going up.
The state reports cases each Wednesday. This week, the state reported 347 new COVID-19 cases for Juneau from May 11 to May 17. That’s double the caseload reported from the previous week — an average of 50 cases a day.
That number only includes cases that are reported to the state, so it does not count positive results from home tests.
Juneau’s case count also includes 101 non-resident cases. A few are known to be related to the tourism industry, while the majority are still under investigation.
Cruise ships report COVID-19 data to the state, which on Wednesday indicated that there were 23 cases “at sea” related to tourism for the previous week. Eighty of the 91 cruise ships registered with CDC are in the “Orange” risk category on the CDC dashboard, which means they could have anywhere from seven to hundreds of active COVID-19 cases on board.
On Wednesday, there were six patients being treated for the virus at Bartlett Regional Hospital, and 22 staff members were out due to COVID-19.
The Juneau School District also saw a significant increase, with 129 cases reported over the last two weeks. That comes after Juneau Douglas High School Yadaa.at Kalé and Thunder Mountain High School hosted their proms.
On Wednesday, the City and Borough of Juneau recommended that residents start masking indoors in response to increasing cases. Because the city’s COVID-19 emergency operations ended at the end of April, city officials can no longer mandate mask wearing or any other pandemic mitigation strategies.
Deputy City Manager Robert Barr said on Friday that there is no plan to recommend that the Juneau assembly reinstate emergency operations at this time.
Free at-home tests are available at Juneau Public Library locations around town. More accurate PCR tests are available at Capstone Clinic at the Juneau Airport, Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium, Juneau Urgent Care and at Bartlett Regional Hospital. Appointments for tests at the hospital can be made by calling 907-586-6000.
Free vaccine doses including boosters are available at the airport or the Juneau Public Health office as well as at pharmacies around town.
In this newscast:
In this newscast:
