By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
When Sitka’s COVID alert level dropped from “high” to “substantial” Monday, the city’s mandate requiring face masks to be worn in indoor spaces was no longer in effect.
A new case was reported today, but the community’s seven-day total remained less than 9, maintaining the “substantial” alert rating for Sitka.
When the shift to “substantial” was reported on the city website Monday, there was also a message about the mandate:
“The COVID-19 Alert Level has shifted from High to Substantial which expires Ordinance 2021-32 Requiring Use of a Face Covering in Certain Indoor Settings and Providing a Penalty,” the message said. “If the risk level returns to High before the ordinance permanently expires on March 22, 2022, the ordinance (requiring face coverings) will reactivate.”
But that doesn’t mean Sitkans should stop taking general precautions to limit the spread of the virus, officials said today.
“We’re still recommending people wear masks, especially indoors and in groups of people,” said Craig Warren, incident commander for the city Emergency Operations Center.
Sitka’s case rate went down to its lowest level in months today, with only one new case added to the dashboard in the past two days.
The community edged out of the “high” risk range Monday and into the next level down, substantial (orange), where it held today.
The five cases in the past seven days put the case rate at 58.66, which is the number of cases in a week per 100,000 population. It’s the lowest it’s been since late June and early July.
Cases have been steadily dropping for the past few weeks, from a high of 32 in a week with a case rate of 375.42 on October 21 to the current level of five – 58.66. Cases in the last week have ranged between 0 and 2 per day.
The vaccination percentages are now reflective of the entire population of 8,523, instead of the age 12 and up population of 7,385, due to the availability of the vaccine to a wider age group – 5 and up. The state says 6,261 residents received one or more doses (73.46 percent); and 6,011 are fully vaccinated (70.53 percent).
Some 2,239 Sitkans have had their booster shots, the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services reported.
