Alaska coronavirus news

As state, federal and local governments ramp up their responses to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, tribal governments are also coordinating efforts to keep citizens safe and healthy.

Last week, the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska sent an emergency declaration to its 31,000 citizens. Tlingit and Haida President Richard Peterson said they did so for two reasons.

“One is to make ourselves eligible for the funding,” said Peterson. “And two, just make sure that everybody understands how serious the situation is.”

The declaration is unprecedented in Tlingit and Haida’s 85-year history as a federally-recognized tribal organization. The council has also had to postpone its tribal assembly for the first time.

Peterson said the council is especially concerned for citizens in rural villages with elderly populations and those with compromised immune systems.

Meanwhile, tribal leaders are advocating for its citizens to receive economic relief payments as part of the federal government’s CARE Act package enacted last week. The package includes aid for tribal citizens across the country.

“I think that’s (an) important recognition by the federal government that the tribes are integral parts of our communities and that we, as governments ourselves, have a role to play,” said Peterson.

And while Tlingit and Haida adapts its social services during the crisis, Peterson is asking citizens to maintain physical distancing — but to still reach out to the Central Council however they can.

 

An Alaskan is facing thousands of dollars in fines for alleged price gouging on N95 masks, which are used as personal protective equipment against the coronavirus.

According to a civil complaint filed on Wednesday, Juan Lyle Aune of Anchorage started purchasing packs of N95 masks in late February as concern about the coronavirus in Alaska started to spread. He later sold them on eBay and Amazon at over four times their purchase price.

It’s unclear exactly how many masks Aune purchased, but the civil complaint alleges that he purchased “thousands.”

One incident described in the criminal complaint alleges that Aune purchased nearly 300 20-packs of N95 masks from a Lowe’s in Anchorage. In that incident, he even admitted to a store employee that he was “flipping” the masks and claimed he was making a $50 profit from each pack sold. Lowe’s could not be reached for comment about its store policies for selling masks at the time of the incident.

The complaint says that the purchases caused a shortage of respirators in local stores.

Aune allegedly sold over 600 masks at prices over four times more than the price he paid at purchase. A bill recently passed by the Alaska Legislature specifies that marking up prices by more than 10% is considered a violation of the Alaska Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Act, though that bill hadn’t been signed by the governor at the time the complaint was filed.

Assistant Attorney General John Haley, who is representing the state in the case, said that the Department of Law was alerted to the case by Amazon.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Aune did not have an attorney listed in the state’s court system. An eBay vendor that goes by the name listed in the complaint said that he hadn’t heard of the case filed against Aune, but the vendor’s history matched some of the details of the document. Within hours of the filing, the vendor had changed the eBay storefront name.

Aune faces fines from $1,000 to $25,000 for each time he advertised the masks online, which the complaint alleges happened at least three times. The Department of Law says these are the first charges related to coronavirus supplies.

Alaska Public Media’s Liz Ruskin contributed to this story.

 

Update — Casey Grove and Tegan Hanlon, Alaska Public Media

Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration has ordered dine-in service at restaurants and bars statewide to remain shut down until further notice, as the number of coronavirus cases in the state continues to grow.

The mandate was set to expire Wednesday evening. It also closes theaters, gyms and fitness centers, bowling alleys and bingo halls.

Alaska Health and Social Services Commissioner Adam Crum also announced at the Wednesday news conference that state-operated libraries, archives and museums will also remain closed until further notice.

By Wednesday, the number of Alaskans diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, had grown to 143 — up 10 from the day before.

Three of the newly-diagnosed Alaskans are from Fairbanks, two are from Anchorage, two are from North Pole, one in Juneau and one in Ketchikan. Also, the first Wasilla resident was confirmed to have the disease.

There were still nine people hospitalized with the virus, Dunleay said.

“No additional deaths, thank God,” he said.

More than 5,000 COVID-19 tests have been completed in the state so far, Dunleavy said.

Alaska Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anne Zink said the state doesn’t have good data on how many Alaskans have recovered from the disease so far. Patients and doctors are not required to report it to the government.

“We do know from anecdotal stories that people have recovered,” Zink said.

Dunleavy said he and his administration have not yet reached a decision on whether to keep schools closed to students for the remainder of the school year. He said it depends on how the coronavirus develops in Alaska over the next two weeks.

Alaska’s public and private classrooms are currently closed to students through at least May 1, with teachers delivering lessons remotely.

Original story — Jeremy Hsieh, KTOO

According to a press release, Gov. Mike Dunleavy and Health Commissioner Adam Crum will announce updates to some of the administration’s public health mandates at today’s COVID-19 press conference at 5 p.m.

Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anne Zink will update COVID-19 case numbers.

And Education Commissioner Michael Johnson will discuss the statewide virtual school program.

You can watch today’s press conference live on this post, the governor’s Facebook or Livestream pages, or on 360 North television.

The headline for this story has been updated.

The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority board received overwhelming critical public testimony at a board meeting last Friday.

The backlash didn’t stop the board from putting $35 million toward the controversial Ambler Road project. People who testified questioned the timing of the action, amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Susan Georgette of Kotzebue summed up the biggest concern from the public: The coronavirus health crisis is no time to put money into the Ambler Road project.

“The Northwest Arctic Borough is under a shelter-in-place directive right now. The state and country are in the midst of a pandemic and an economic crisis,” Georgette said. “And it’s outrageous, as others have said, that AIDEA is considering these actions right now.”

AIDEA scheduled the emergency meeting to allow themselves to waive certain regulations on their loans, with the intent of getting money out faster to businesses across the state strained by the coronavirus.

The money would go toward contracting with engineers, lawyers, advisers and others in the Ambler Road’s predevelopment phase.

For two hours, Georgette and others testified to the board — almost exclusively against the funding for the project. Many of them took issue with the timing of the meeting. The board scheduled the meeting with three days notice, and some felt there wasn’t time for the public to weigh in on the motions. Public testimony per person had also been reduced from the listed three minutes down to two, which Georgette criticized.

“It does look like AIDEA is using the current crisis to forge ahead with an unpopular project,” Georgette said.

The Ambler Mining District Industrial Access project, known as the Ambler Road project, would stretch from the Dalton Highway to the Ambler Mining District northeast of Kotzebue, crossing into Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve.

The road has drawn criticism from environmental groups who don’t want a new road through a national park.

Several village governments, including the village of Kotzebue, have also publicly come out against the project.

“Many people here are more concerned with long-term impacts on caribou, fish and water quality than on the shorter-term economic benefits of the road,” Georgette said.

The Army Corps of Engineers released its final environmental impact statement on the road on Friday. They say all three suggested road routes, including one that doesn’t cross through a national park, could impact air and water quality, wildlife migration and erosion in the region.

Despite the largely negative input from the public, the board ultimately voted unanimously to support the resolution, which categorizes the Ambler Road project as an Arctic Infrastructure project, and also adds $35 million to the fund for those projects. The board would have to take further action to actually put the money into the road.

Board president Dana Pruhs said the investment in the Ambler Road project is important as the state looks past the current health crisis to the economy post-coronavirus.

“I respect the public, and I really respect what they had to say today,” Pruhs said. “But they have to know that we have to look after the future of the state also.”

Board members estimate that the project could bring 100 to 200 jobs to the state.

AIDEA is a public Alaska state corporation tasked with making investments and providing loans to various business interests across the state.

The AIDEA board also voted to grant the Blood Bank of Alaska a six-month reprieve from paying back loans, though the blood bank had requested nine months and an additional $2.5 million in credit, which was not granted.

 

A top official at Bristol Bay Area Health Corp. sent an email to other managers this month promoting the falsehood that the coronavirus pandemic is no worse than the flu and is part of a political conspiracy.

As of Monday, the official no longer works at the corporation.

The March 16 email subject line is “Do NOT PANIC.” It’s addressed to managers at BBAHC. In it, Dr. Lecia Scotford, the health corporation’s now-former chief operating officer, questions the gravity of the coronavirus crisis. Scotford also points to prior health crises that took place during even-numbered years. Because those are election years, she suggests without evidence that this is a political conspiracy.

In the email, she writes, “This is not political…….or is it???? Since all these years have been election years. Just a reminder that FLU kills many every year! Common sense and good hygiene are important always, virus or no virus.”

Several local leaders said they were outraged by Scotford’s claims and called on the health corporation to take corrective measures.

In a letter to the health corporation’s CEO and the board chair, First Chief Thomas Tilden of the Curyung Tribal Council wrote, “What appears to us to be absolute ignorance and blatant arrogance by BBAHC’s COO, jeopardizes the welfare of every patient, provider and employee of BBAHC as well as the general public of Dillingham and greater Bristol Bay.”

The tribe is currently in the process of withdrawing from the health corporation, in part over concerns about the hospital’s management and patient care. It held its final mediation session with BBAHC’s full board earlier in March.

Tilden also wrote that Scotford did not adhere to the mandatory 14-day self-quarantine after returning from Florida and Seattle. Instead, Tilden’s email says, Scotford reported to work at Kanakanak Hospital in Dillingham on March 23.

Norm Van Vactor is a Dillingham resident and CEO of the Bristol Bay Economic Development Corp. In an email to the health corporation, he wrote, “This type of messaging in the middle of the Health Crisis of our generation is just NOT ACCEPTABLE and I condemn it.”

Scotford’s employment was terminated abruptly Monday.

Robert Clark, the president and CEO of BBAHC, declined to say why he ended Scotford’s tenure at the hospital.

Clark confirmed that Scotford was traveling out of state and returned to work on March 23. But he said it was before the governor’s mandate went into effect.

“We obtained input from our medical staff before she was permitted to come to work on March 23. She wore a mask and stayed in her office. She was isolated from other employees and her office is far from any patient care areas of the hospital,” he said.

According to Clark, a member of the medical staff suggested Scotford work from home, and she left the hospital premises to do so. Clark wouldn’t comment on Scotford’s March 16 email.

He will be the acting chief of operations until the corporation hires a new officer.

Alaska Marine Highway System’s mainline service won’t be back up and running until mid-May. The ferries Columbia, Kennicott and Tustumena were scheduled to return to service later this month. 

According to a Wednesday media release from the Department of Transportation, the three vessels are on schedule to be overhauled by Vigor Alaska. But the ferry crews needed to prep and provision the ships have been sent home due to COVID-19 precautions.

Travel restrictions implemented by a number of Southeast Alaska villages has also lessened demand for passenger service. But the DOT says essential grocery deliveries will continue throughout the public health crisis