By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
Sitka’s rolling case average went down slightly on Thursday, with five resident COVID cases added to the city dashboard.
The dashboard, which was updated at 8 p.m. Thursday, shows 102 current active cases, and a 14-day rolling average of 7.36 cases per day. That’s down slightly from the previous 7.64, but still solidly in the “high” risk zone – which is above 1 case per day.
Sitka this week passed the 1,000 mark in total cumulative cases, which today stood at 1,007. Of that figure, 924 are residents and 83 are nonresidents; and 903 are listed as “recovered.”
The cumulative hospitalizations figure held at 40.
At Wednesday’s Unified Command meeting, acting Incident Commander Rob Janik noted a decline in case rates was disrupted by last weekend’s spike, but added that it seemed to be “mostly groups of people who are associated.”
“There doesn’t seem to be a lot of randomness to it,” he said. “The efforts are (now) at increasing the access to testing in congregate and noncongregate living settings so that we can identify people who are either asymptomatic with disease, or those who have symptoms – if we could attribute (those) to the COVID-19 disease.”
SEARHC health care workers greet Sitkans arriving at a drive-up COVID-19 testing area on the Japonski Island SEARHC campus this afternoon. The health consortium is also offering free testing Saturday from noon to 3 p.m. at the site across from the Mt. Egecumbe Medical Center main entrance. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
To that end, city officials and public health nurse Denise Ewing have been working closely to increase access to testing to control outbreaks, he said.
Some of the cases in the last week were related to positive tests and breakthrough cases at Sitka Sound Seafoods. (Story in the Sentinel on Wednesday, Aug. 18).
“The corporate response has just been amazing,” Janik said.
At the meeting he also talked about public questions about possible COVID deaths not being recorded on the dashboard.
“We want to report these cases and these deaths as accurately as we can as soon as we can, but unfortunately the process to go through to get it officially declared as a COVID death and then to be able to report it accurately takes a lot of time,” he said. “There are different silos that don’t necessarily communicate effectively with each other.”
He assured the public that as soon as Unified Command has “actionable information” it will be posted on the dashboard.
Janik added that the city’s risk level chart will soon match the state’s, with four risk levels (blue, yellow, orange, red), and risk levels based on cases for the last seven days, per 100,000 population. He expects the change to occur on September 1.
“We’re going to transition from our 14-day per 10,000 resident-only reporting model, to all cases (per) 100,000, over a seven day period,” he said.
Public health nurse Ewing praised the quick response to the Sitka Sound Seafood plant outbreak. Some of the infections were breakthrough cases of previously vaccinated people, who had “very small, minor symptoms.”
“Those that aren’t vaccinated are those who are really struggling now, and sick,” she said.
Speaking of all three of the vaccines available, she said “it’s good vaccine. It’s keeping people out of the hospital. It’s keeping people from getting very sick and it’s keeping people from dying.”
Ewing said she’s looking forward to the start of booster shots, which will be available to those 18 and older eight months after their final doses of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine.
“For your third shot you stay with the same manufacturer,” she said.
Ewing said she is waiting for more information on boosters for the J and J vaccine.
She expects the rollout of the booster shots will work in a similar manner to the initial rollout of the vaccines last December: available first to those most vulnerable to infection.
“We’ll get through those that really need it first, and then will open it up as we go along,” she said.
Third doses are currently available for certain immuno-compromised patients, if it is recommended by health care providers.
SEARHC had a vaccination clinic Wednesday, and Trish White, co-owner of Harry Race Pharmacy, left a message for the Unified Command group that she will start taking appointments for the booster third dose starting August 27.
Sign-ups for all vaccines through Harry Race is at sitkapharmacies.com and questions can be asked at 907-206-2202. SEARHC vaccination registration is at covid19.searhc.org
Sitka School Superintendent Frank Hauser said the school risk level is high, and plans are in the works to match the school risk level with the city’s.
“When you come back to school on Monday we’ll be in a high alert level and masks will be required for staff and students,” Hauser said.
Assembly liaison Thor Christianson noted that the mask mandate, approved as an emergency ordinance on July 27, will be on Tuesday’s Assembly agenda for extension, also as an emergency ordinance. The current ordinance expires on that day, he said today.
Sitka Tribe of Alaska representative Anne Davis said tribal employees are continuing to work from home, and doors of STA offices are closed to the public.
Sitka Public Library’s Jessica Ieremia said she and other task force public information officers are getting the word out about face coverings, precautions for travelers and returning to school.
Reporting on what she has learned from other public information officers, she said “The state is still doing contact tracing but it’s faster if people do go and notify their own contacts. If you need to call for education, resources and to get a contact tracing interview, (PIO) Elizabeth Manning gave out this number, 907-531-3329.”
