COVID-19 CASES IN ALASKA RISE TO 13 WITH ONE NEW CASE IN KETCHIKAN;Special Health Mandate Issued for Ketchikan & Fairbanks; Public & Private Schools Statewide Closed Until May 1stEdited/Posted By MARY KAUFFMAN
March 20, 2020
Upon experiencing symptoms of illness, the Ketchikan individual self-isolated and sought testing through the PeaceHealth Medical Center Emergency Room. This individual was a close contact of the first identified positive case in Ketchikan. The individual is an employee of the Ketchikan Gateway Borough and works at the White Cliff Building. On March 17, 2020, following identification of an individual with a positive test result for COVID-19, Ketchikan's White Cliff Building was closed and will remain closed until April 1, 2020. The building has been thoroughly cleaned, sanitized, and disinfected with a commercial disinfectant service. Ketchikan Borough employees in direct contact with the individual are self-isolating at home for a period of no less than 14 days. Borough employees are telecommuting and working from home. Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and Alaska public health officials gave an update this afternoon on the COVID-19 outbreak in Alaska and issued two new health mandates. Upon confirmation of a patient who has tested positive with the COVID-19 virus, nurses from the Ketchikan Public Health Center, the local office of the State Division of Public Health, will conduct a contact investigation with the individual to learn the people that the individual has been in close contact with, regardless of where they were encountered. Close contact is defined as: a) Being within approximately 6 feet (2 meters) of a COVID-19 case for a prolonged period of time; close contact can occur while caring for, living with, visiting, or sharing a health care waiting area or room with a COVID-19 case – Or – b) Having direct contact with infectious secretions of a COVID-19 case (e.g., being coughed on). Public Health then contacts the people identified by the individual but ONLY if they are considered to be a medium or high risk contact based on the information provided. Please see the attached table defining the criteria for the various risk levels (low, medium, high). Public Health Nursing and the Section of Epidemiology are working together to contact individuals with High/Medium risk during the positive case infectious periods. After people in the medium and high risk categories are identified, Ketchikan Public Health are also conducting the daily monitoring of those people to ensure that self-isolation is being followed and that testing occurs if symptoms develop. Ketchikan Public Health is working closely with the Ketchikan EOC as part of our local incident management team. Given the increasing concern for new cases of COVID-19 in the Fairbanks North Star Borough and the Ketchikan Gateway Borough, the State of Alaska issued the following mandate Friday to go into effect Saturday, March 21st, 2020 at 8:00 am. The purpose of this mandate is to limit all close contacts (people outside of a family unit) to be within 6 feet of each other to prevent the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19. Mandate 7.1 – Fairbanks North Star Borough & Ketchikan Gateway Borough - Personal Care Services and Gatherings
This mandate does not include urgent, and emergent health care needs, nor health care facilities, however, health care facilities must do risk assessment screening prior to entering the facility. Mandate Mandate 7.1 is in effect until further notice. Mandate 8.1 – State of Alaska – Public and Private Schools Public and private schools are closed to students through May 1, 2020. Students will receive instruction through distance delivery methods. All after school activities will be suspended during this time. These are measures to protect Alaskans. We appreciate the public’s understanding of this mandate in an effort to mitigate this virus.
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