Alaska coronavirus news

Labor officials released Alaska’s latest jobs numbers for January last week. They’re up, but come with a big asterisk: It’s too early to show effects of the coronavirus. Labor impacts are expected to show up in the data for February and March.

Now, industry and government travel restrictions are keeping the big cruise ships from coming to Alaska until at least July. For cruise towns like Juneau, where the visitor industry has been the biggest private sector employer, the impacts are huge.

Until a few weeks ago, the 2020 cruise ship season in Alaska was poised to set new records.

At Juneau Tours and Whale Watch, General Manager Serene Hutchinson said pre-sales were up 30% to 40%.

“And so we were getting ready for a huge season. We were sweating, we were nervous,” Hutchinson said. 

Normally at this time of year, the office would be buzzing with phone calls and the clickity-clack of keyboards – taking bookings and hiring. But this year, it’s quiet enough for a black lab mix named Zac, short for Prozac, to nap serenely in the spring sun pouring in from the windows. 

There’s only one other employee in the office. Half-packed equipment lays idle, getting ready to move to a downsized office.

Hutchinson said they had planned to have a summer staff of 85 to 90 people. Instead, she recently laid off half her year-round staff. They now have five employees. Five instead of 85. 

“Now, the people I just laid off are really nervous because they don’t know when they’re gonna start back. And then as far as all my seasonal workers, I’ve been asking them to — as far as drivers and boat crew — I’ve just been asking them to stand by,” Hutchinson said. 

She said it’s likely she’ll lose them to other work. If the cruise ship season does eventually start, she’ll have to rehire all over again.

Some version of this is probably playing out at businesses across the region. According to labor data for Juneau, about one out of every 7 or 8 jobs here is in travel and hospitality.

Yasmine Habash has counted on a summer tourism job for the past nine years. Now, she said she’s “waiting for a tourism season that may or may not come.”

She’s babysitting and taking a walk around Overstreet Park.

“I don’t think there’s any daycare right now. So I’m just helping some friends out,” she said. “They’re still working.” 

She said she’s trying to be optimistic that there will be a cruise ship season. But she’s also thinking about plans B and C.

“I would definitely look for other employment in the Capitol, ” she said. “And then Plan C is leaving — leaving Juneau maybe for a season or longer.”

David Noon teaches American history at the University of Alaska Southeast. In 2018, he started driving buses in the summer for Holland America Princess to help make ends meet. He’s in a kind of dark place. 

“We just hit the library yesterday, before they close for two weeks,” he said. “So we took out a lot of books on, you know, the Black Death and serial killers and, you know, things are pretty dark in my household at the moment. My kids are, they’re along for the ride.”

His kids are old enough that he doesn’t have to worry about childcare issues. 

“No, no, they can, you know, just leave them at home with a, you know, a rifle and a can opener and they’ll be they’ll be fine,” he joked. 

He said he’s fortunate to have savings to draw on, but doesn’t think he’ll be able to pay down some of his debt for awhile. He’ll be curbing his leisure spending and won’t travel. 

“I’m good at beating myself up in most circumstances, but I’m just not doing it right now because everybody’s in a state of heightened ambiguity.”

Habash said, at least it’s a good time to get outside.

“Just try not to be stressed and getting outside in nature, which the weather has helped with a lot, some nature therapy and some sunshine. So just finding the good,” Habash said. 

In a statement Tuesday, the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development encouraged people that are out of work to apply for unemployment insurance benefits. It’s anticipating a substantial increase in filings and long wait times. To deal with the volume, the department wants applicants to file online and to limit calls for questions. 

 

In Juneau, many public facilities are closed and businesses are scaling back to limit the spread of COVID-19. But for people who don’t have homes or the ability to feed themselves, it’s not so simple.

Local service providers are looking for ways to continue helping Juneau’s most vulnerable population while also keeping them safe.

A sign appeared on the door of the Glory Hall on Tuesday, asking people coming in for meals to take them to-go, if possible.

Juneau’s downtown homeless shelter provides three meals a day. But recent guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises organizations that serve high-risk populations to limit public gatherings of 10 or more.

The shelter frequently serves food to 30 people or more at one time.

Christopher Harty is a regular for meals.

“If they stop serving meals, I don’t know, I don’t know what the heck we’re gonna do,” Harty said.

Tuesday was Vincent Libertino’s first day of work at the Glory Hall. He helped serve oatmeal for breakfast and turkey wraps with St. Patrick’s Day cookies for lunch.

Libertino said it’s clear some patrons are nervous about what’s going on and trying to take precautions.

“In the military we used to call it MOPP gear, M-O-P-P — mission-oriented protective posture. So some people this morning, I noticed, were wearing gloves and little booties and masks and hats.”

Mariya Lovishchuk is the director of the Glory Hall. She says the sign went up because they’re trying to keep patrons and staff safe without denying them shelter and food. They also don’t want to potentially spread the virus, but they don’t have anywhere else to put people.

“Everybody would get it and the people who we are serving are the people who are in the category of people who would have severe complications and potentially die from this,” Lovishchuk said. “We are stuck between a rock and a hard place and we need help from the community, specifically from the City and Borough of Juneau to help address this.”

The situation is similar at the city’s warming shelter, operated by St. Vincent de Paul. It offers the homeless a place to sleep on cold nights. Interim director Dave Ringle said the organization has been doing what it can.

“Extra cleanliness. We’re trying to have people with three feet distance between each cot. I know ideally, we’d have six feet,” Ringle said.

With the long stretch of cold, wet weather this winter, the shelter was open for an unprecedented 60-day stretch. After a brief closure, they’re now coming up on 30-days straight.

Ringle said they’re already stretched thin. They regularly see 40 guests or more each night.

“To really do it right, we need a bigger place and we’re working on that,” he said. “But that requires powers beyond my limited ability here at St. Vincent DePaul.”

In Anchorage, the city is preparing to convert the state’s largest event arena into a massive shelter in response to the outbreak. The venue should allow people to maintain a distance while also giving them a place to wash and stay warm.

City Housing Officer Scott Ciambor said Juneau is considering something like that. The city sent a survey to homeless providers this week to see what their needs are.

“Trying to get a sense of what needs to be done, you know, where the resources are and how to, you know, get on a path towards making that happen,” Ciambor said.

Now that most city facilities have been closed to the public, there are some new options for an emergency shelter. It would potentially need to have space for up to 80 people or more.

But there’s still a lot of planning to do. Ciambor and city staff will discuss next steps with service providers Wednesday.

KTOO’s Rashah McChesney and Jeremy Hsieh contributed to this report. 

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.

Three more people in Alaska have confirmed cases of coronavirus, bringing the total to six.

In a news conference Tuesday evening, Dr. Anne Zink, the state’s chief medical officer, said the new cases are from Anchorage, Fairbanks and Ketchikan.

“We’ve seen in just a few days that we’ve had no cases, to one case, to now more cases,” Zink said. “And this is what we’re going to continue to see with this, if we do not all work together to stand apart, to be able to socially distance, but also to take care of each other.”

All six cases appear to be related to travel.

In addition, Gov. Mike Dunleavy closed all restaurants and bars statewide to dine-in services, effective Wednesday at 5 p.m. Zink said takeout and delivery will be allowed.

The closure is through April 1. It also applies to all entertainment facilities, including theaters, gyms, bowling alleys and bingo halls.

Zink said the state has 1,650 kits at state labs to do more tests.

“We are expecting more and more testing,” she said. “I was on numerous federal calls today to try to get additional supplies, including swabs and reagents, to be able to expand that capacity, as we try to expand to meet what we are concerned about: a growing epidemic within our state, and a pandemic worldwide.”

All four leaders of the legislative caucus offered the governor their support in the news conference.

This story has been updated.

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Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced on Tuesday a state economic stabilization team to work on a plan to protect the state’s economy from the coronavirus impact.

Former Gov. Sean Parnell, a Republican, and former U.S. Sen. Mark Begich, a Democrat, will lead the team, which will include state economic leaders and former elected officials.

Dunleavy said the team will recommend decisive policies to protect jobs, families and the economy.

Parnell said the committee members will focus on Alaskans’ interests.

“We need all Alaskans standing together, basically as force multipliers against not only coronavirus but also against the economic uncertainty that we face,” he said.

Begich said the response is drawing the state together.

“We have to put all hands on deck, put aside political differences and figure out what we can to ensure the livelihoods of Alaskans are protected and put together a plan,” he said.

Begich said he and Parnell will be reaching out to business leaders for ideas. He said the tourism, hospitality and other retail; oil and gas; and fisheries industries are among those he’s focused on.

The Dunleavy administration also is working with the state Legislature on coronavirus response funding.

The Senate Finance Committee is considering a proposal to provide $8.5 million in grants to municipalities losing revenue from cruise ship cancellations. The plan also would provide $15 million in public health and emergency programs.

The proposal is in addition to a bill the governor signed today that provides an initial batch of state and federal funding.

The Legislature also is considering $30 million in assistance to communities.

Sitka Republican Sen. Bert Stedman said he expected the Legislature to finish work on the operating budget in the next two weeks and to reconvene in late summer or early fall to act on administration proposals.

“This is a multi-step approach to a very dynamic incident dealing with this virus,” he said. “So the trail will have many curves and turns, and we’re going to respond accordingly and keep our public safe.”

Fairbanks Republican Sen. Click Bishop has been working with the governor’s office on a bill to get unemployment insurance benefits to affected workers immediately.

Legislators also have expressed interest in helping small businesses access credit.

Anchorage Republican Rep. Chuck Kopp said Monday that the Legislature must be prepared to act quickly.

“We know that we are going to have to be responsive and looking at what we can do to mitigate the biggest problem of all, and that’s the pandemic of fear that’s swept globally,” he said. “That ship has sailed, but it is the fear that has resulted in economic collapse that we have to deal with.”

The Senate Finance Committee will start hearing public testimony on the operating and capital budgets on Wednesday.

 

Alaska’s largest union for state workers has expressed concern that its members have been unnecessarily exposed to the risk of contracting COVID-19.

Alaska State Employees Association Executive Director Jake Metcalfe said state workers are dealing with the public in ways that run counter to recommendations from President Donald Trump and state Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anne Zink.

“Their concern is going up every day,” Metcalfe said. “They simply want some kind of message about what’s going to happen in their workplace, and what safety protocols are taking place.”

Metcalfe said Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration hasn’t responded to the union’s requests for information on safety.

The union includes state workers who come into contact with the public — like those at the Motor Vehicle and Permanent Fund Dividend divisions.

Dunleavy told state workers Tuesday that the state is initiating telework options on a large scale, but it’s still figuring out which groups can work from home. He said Monday it’s also considering which workers face lower risk because they’re isolated in their jobs.

“There’ll be protocols put in place,” Dunleavy said. “We have thousands and thousands of state workers who are incredibly valuable in making sure that state government runs. We have to be very careful that we don’t shut down aspects of state government, but at the same time, provide for the health and safety of our state workers.”

In an email to state workers, the Department of Administration said the state is identifying needs; acquiring equipment; training; and conducting a pilot program with select divisions and offices throughout the state in the coming week.

Also, the state is researching how to effectively implement physical barriers to protect workers who directly interact with the public in areas like DMV windows.

Metcalfe sent an email to the state administration and health commissioners Monday night, asking them to assure him that the state is following state and federal recommendations to slow the virus. As of Tuesday afternoon, he had not yet received a reply.