By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
Busy cruise ship days, a COVID variant, and the start of school in the fall.
Those were among the topics at last Wednesday’s Unified Command meeting.
With Sitka’s COVID risk level at the lowest, “limited,” the meetings are now held about once a month.
Craig Warren, emergency operations center incident commander, led off the roundtable presentations with an update on the upcoming cruise season, with the schedule still in draft form.
“It looks like Wednesday in the draft form is going to be our heavy day with possibly two large boats ... it could start as early as July 21,” he said. Warren added that the city is working with Carnival Cruise Line on a memorandum of agreement for Sitka port calls.
In light of the low vacancy rates of Sitka hotels, Warren was asked about solutions for quarantine if a visitor tests positive for COVID.
“I don’t have a great answer for that but we’re working in that direction,” Warren said. On the logistics front, Thor Christianson noted the availability of most supplies, and the more than doubling of surgical glove prices.
“A case of gloves is 400 bucks where before it was $180 and they’re not going to come down,” he said.
Trish White, co-owner of Harry Race Pharmacy, said she anticipates the end of the Friday vaccination clinics at the fire hall.
“It’s just been such a smooth process,” she said. “We see some new faces... It’s super interesting; it’s been amazing.” Drop-ins to the clinic have increased but the numbers have stayed steady at 29 and 40 a week the last couple of Fridays at the clinic. She said she’s considering moving the clinic to the space next door to the pharmacy and doing occasional clinics at the fire hall.
“Please get vaccinated,” she added.
Rob Janik, planning section chief for the EOC, said the majority of COVID cases, deaths and hospitalizations nationally and internationally are among the unvaccinated.
“For those who aren’t vaccinated, get vaccinated, it could prevent your death,” he said. All of the vaccines are available in Sitka, he said.
Janik added that he’s expecting to hear about approval of the Emergency Use Authorization for the younger pediatric population. He’s also encouraging those arriving at the airport to use the free testing that’s available.
Later he added, “The disease we see today is not the same disease as this time last year or earlier. The predominant strain in the UK now is the Delta strain. We see younger people infected. It doesn’t follow the same pattern as the ‘medically fragile’ or vulnerable as the wild strain disease did this last year. It seems to attack young folks more so than it did. It seems to cause more severe illness ... Reliable predictions have that it will be the dominant strain in the United States in our near future.”
He said all three vaccines protect against this strain.
Public Health Nurse Denise Ewing echoed Janik’s comments encouraging people to be vaccinated. She noted the younger population seems to be the group holding off on getting vaccinations.
“They know about it, they know where to go, they know how to get vaccinated, they’re just on the fence and waiting – waiting for what I’m not sure,” she said. “So get vaccinated. Those we are seeing with the cases are related to travel and not getting vaccinated.”
She’s pleased to see the lower case rate but added “it would be nice to be at zero.” The communities she serves are seeing vaccination rates higher than 90 percent, including among the younger populations.
The seafood plants have high vaccination rates, she said, with one or more plant at 100 percent or close to 100 percent.
Ewing said the doors are open at the Public Health Center for all services including other vaccinations for school and family planning.
The EOC public information officers are continuing to develop ways to get the information out about COVID, including what travelers need to know.
Mt. Edgecumbe High School Superintendent Janelle Vanasse said she and her staff are waiting for CDC school guidance, which may come out by the end of this month.
“We’re watching that, and we’re following very closely the seafood industry as congregate housing,” she said. “I’m really thrilled they’re having such success, and we’re watching the success of summer camps and have some CDC guidance. ... We’re looking forward to potentially being able to ease up on some of our mitigation”
The school is communicating with families and encouraging them to get vaccinated.
“We really want them vaccinated before they come so that it eases the mitigation we have to do when they travel in,” Vanasse said. “But we are arranging to have vaccinations as soon as kids land for anyone who did not have that availability.”
The school has 100 more applicants this year than last.
John Holst, Sitka School District superintendent, said summer school is underway in most buildings, and “We’re feeling pretty good about our year.”
He said there was no evidence of transmission of COVID in the school buildings, and that the district can take pride in the fact that Sitka’s kids were among the 10 percent nationwide that “went to school pretty consistently.”
Holst added today that district officials are planning on full-day school in all of the buildings in the fall. Most of the planning for the fall has already taken place, he said.
“There’s going to be modifications, probably in August,” he said. “It depends on what the CDC guidance is but that would just be adjustments, not whether they’re going to be in school full days; that decision has been made.”
