By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
A new system for greeting, screening and testing passengers arriving at the Sitka airport is off to a good start, officials of the Sitka COVID response team said today.
“People are moving through really fast,” said Fire Chief Dave Miller, who is also the emergency manager for the city’s “unified command.”
Passengers are assisted by orange-vested workers as they make their way through screening stations set up at the Sitka Airport Sunday. Workers from Allen Marine were helped by city employees as details of a COVID-19 screening system were worked out for arriving airline passengers. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
Transport drivers for Sitka hotels and lodges wait outside the airport to pick up guests Sunday. Only those with tickets were allowed in the airport lobby. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
State Health Mandate 10, which requires passengers to self-quarantine for 14 days after arrival, was amended last week to give travelers other options, which have greatly increased the responsibility of local communities.
The new options, which went into effect on Saturday, say a traveler can avoid the 14-day arrival quarantine by producing a negative test result for COVID administered within 72 hours of departing for Alaska.
Also, those producing a negative result from a test taken within five days of departure can be tested upon arrival, and “minimize interactions” until the second test result is received. They are to be tested again within 7 to 14 days.
Another option is to be tested upon arrival at the airport, going into quarantine, and having another test within 7 to 14 days.
There is a separate set of rules for Alaska residents returning from trips out of the state of five days or fewer; those filling critical infrastructure roles; and those who have been in the state for at least 14 days.
Since Saturday, arriving passengers at the Sitka airport are being directed to tables arranged in the lobby where screeners take histories, review paperwork, answer questions and administer COVID tests as necessary.
To free the necessary space inside the terminal, and also to provide social distancing, people from town who have come to greet arriving travelers or lead them to their hotel or charter vans, are congregating on the sidewalk outside the terminal entrance.
Allen Marine company has a contract with the state to provide the new screeners inside the terminal, and a number have been hired already, said Stefania Potrzuski, the Allen Marine supervisor of the airport screening.
Volunteers and staff from the Sitka fire hall and SEARHC employees will be filling in as screeners until all of the needed positions are filled.
Potrzuski said she and others are still streamlining the process, but generally it takes under 20 minutes to run all of the passengers through the screening and testing. The airlines are providing passengers with declaration forms to help with the process.
Screeners will review the travel declaration form to make sure it’s filled out, and go over screening questions with the passenger.
Testing, for those who need it to avoid the full 14-day quarantine, is being provided at a screening station in the lobby on the Nugget Restaurant end of the terminal. Passengers fill out demographics forms, and screeners fill out the label needed for the labwork. They are handed test vouchers and then wait to get called for a self-swab.
They then get the sticker “I have been screened” and can leave.
“After every flight we’re doing a little review to see what we could’ve done better,” Potrzuski said. “We’ve been happy with the efficient time with each person, and no one seemed to be waiting in line too long.”
Of the 20 minutes total time for all passengers to complete the process, Miller said, “Is it better than expected? I had positive feelings about it ahead of time. People are understanding about why we’re doing this – they may not agree with it but don’t seem to have a problem, and they’re following the rules. Most people are pretty good.”
Some 10 to 12 screeners are needed to process the passengers on each of the three arriving flights per day.
The fire chief said he’s been on hand for four of the five arriving Alaska Airlines flights since the revised mandate went into effect Saturday. He said the numbers of how many had already had tests, or needed testing, has varied.
“The first flight there were 45 or 50 people and all but a few had the paperwork and were ready to go; the next flight it was 50-50 (between those who had paperwork and those who didn’t),” he said. “Every flight is different,”
Thor Christianson is the logistics section chief for the incident command and a volunteer at the fire hall. He has volunteered for three of the arriving flights, to supplement the crews hired so far through Allen Marine.
He said passengers have generally been cooperative, and eager to get through the process.
“We’ve had a few people who were a little grumpy, but nothing too extreme,” Christianson said. “The problem is, people want to get through fast and you need bodies to do that.”
He said Alaska Airlines and those who will be hosts of the new arrivals, such as charter lodges, seem to have prepared their guests in advance for what to expect upon arrival.
“People were more prepared than we expected,” Christianson said. “That’s because people worked hard to make sure it goes smoothly: people like Dave (Miller), SEARHC and Allen Marine.”
Once Allen Marine has a full complement of greeters and screeners, volunteers and SEARHC staff will no longer be needed, he added.
