As the commercial salmon fishing season gets underway this week, a top federal medical official will be visiting coastal fishing communities, including Cordova, to assess how prepared they are to keep COVID-19 at bay.
Senior Medical Officer Dr. Alexander Eastman, of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said during a Gov. Mike Dunleavy administration teleconference on Monday, May 11, that he would visit several communities, including Cordova, in areas that attract thousands of harvester and processor workers from other states and around the world.
Eastman will be accompanied by Alaska’s chief medical officer, Dr. Anne Zink, and Commissioner of Health and Social Services Adam Crum on a flight to Nome on Tuesday, May 12, then visit Teller, Stebbins and Russian Mission. Their travels this week will also include stops in Cordova, Kodiak, Dillingham and King Salmon.
Eastman said that the federal government “would be responsive to any requests from the state,” but offered no specific commitment, other than to say that Alaska was being closely watched. Zink said that the state has been working with medical providers to get additional equipment to Cordova and other fishing areas, to ensure that they have the necessary capability to test and get quick results on COVID-19 infections.
Meanwhile state lawmakers said on the evening of May 11 that the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee had voted to approve funds to Alaskans and Alaska small businesses through the federal Coronavirus Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The action came in the wake of weeks of vetting Dunleavy’s proposals to spend the $1.5 billion in federal stimulus funds by LB&A — a House-Senate committee — as well as input from other members of the Legislature. The total amount of federal funds approved by LB&A for community assistance is $568.6 million. There were two separate appropriations: one for $257.6 million and another for $311 million, according to the Alaska House Majority.
Phase two of the statewide plan for economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic is now underway, with similar plans for Cordova and Juneau still on hold, as the number of people recovering from COVID-19 continues to outpace newly diagnosed cases.
Two new cases of people testing positive for the virus were reported for the 24-hour period ended at midnight on Sunday, May 10, including one in Anchorage and one in Fairbanks, bringing the statewide virus case total to 381, of which 328 are now recovered. The total number of hospitalizations remain at 38, with 10 deaths overall.
The seafood processing worker who tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Cordova, is not included in the statewide count, since that person is not an Alaska resident. That individual, who arrived in Alaska to work, only to become Cordova’s first confirmed case of the COVID-19 virus, was identified as infected in routine testing by Ocean Beauty Seafoods earlier in the week and placed into isolation.
Phase two of the state’s “Reopen Alaska Responsibly Plan” allows for retail, restaurants, personal care and office facilities to operate at 50 percent of capacity, up from 25 percent a week earlier, and for gyms, bars, libraries and theaters to open at 25 percent of capacity.
Phase two also allows walk-ins without reservations at restaurants, and bars and for social and religious gatherings of up to 50 people, including non-household members, as long as social distancing is maintained,
Phase three, at a date still to be determined, will increase the capacity for most businesses to 75 percent, and also allow for larger gatherings.
