By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
With the most recent uptick in the number of cases at the end of last week, Sitka moved to “moderate” risk level for COVID-19 transmission.
Sitka Fire Department Chief Craig Warren, the city Emergency Operations Center incident commander, flipped the sign from “low” to “moderate” on Friday.
Three positive tests recorded on Friday followed three straight days of one case per day, which moved the 14-day rolling average to .5 cases per day.
“COVID is not gone, even with all we know about COVID and even with all the vaccinations Sitka has,” Warren said. “COVID is not gone, and it won’t be for a number of weeks, for a number of months, if it’s ever done.”
The six cases added over four days were attributed to secondary transmission, and “community spread” and followed on the heels of spring break.
Warren said he is sympathetic to the fatigue people are feeling toward precautions and COVID.
“It’s been a long year, I’m sick of it too,” he said. “I would like to socialize again but I also know it’s not the right thing to do yet. We need to continue to protect the community. ... Let’s be cautious.”
The two-week case chart on cityofsitka.org shows seven cases for the past two weeks. The “moderate” risk level is from .5 to 1 case per day, based on the 14-day rolling average. The current number of active cases is seven.
“All it’s going to take is seven more cases, and we could be back to ‘high,’” Warren said.
The incident commander reminded members of the public of the precautions, including hand washing, wearing masks and avoiding travel unless necessary.
“The reality is when you travel you take a chance of bringing it back to the community,” he added.
The chart does not say which of the positive test results were for vaccinated people, but Public Health Nurse Denise Ewing said at the most recent Unified Command meeting that the five positive cases in Sitka of vaccinated people were “asymptomatic” or had mild symptoms.
