State reports seven new resident COVID-19 cases in Juneau

Alaska Health and Social Services reports seven new resident COVID-19 cases in Juneau. How the individuals contracted the virus is under investigation. The people are currently in isolation and the state Division of Public Health has initiated contact investigations and will notify and quarantine additional persons as appropriate. The seven cases are part of a statewide total of 94 new cases – 92 residents and 2 nonresidents.

Cumulatively, Juneau has had 73 residents test positive for COVID-19 since March. Of those, 17 cases are active and 54 have recovered. A total of 39 nonresidents have tested positive for COVID-19 – 30 of these cases are still active. All individuals with active cases of COVID-19 are currently in isolation. The state Division of Public Health is conducting contact investigations and will notify and quarantine additional persons as appropriate.

Of the recent resident cases in Juneau, Public Health Nursing in Juneau is preliminarily attributing three cases to community spread, three to in-state travel, three to out-of-state travel, and two to secondary transmission. Contact tracing is ongoing. The City and Borough of Juneau is conducting another mass testing effort for the Juneau seafood processor Alaska Glacier Seafoods today.

Statewide, the workload for contact tracers has more than doubled in the last few weeks. They are working as fast as possible to identify and quarantine contacts. Alaskans can help contact tracers move faster and prevent more cases by keeping their contact list small, keeping a diary of who they are in close contact with (defined as within 6 feet for 10 minutes or more), wearing cloth face coverings when around any non-household members or in public, and responding promptly to being contacted. 

Cumulatively, Alaska has had 2,132 resident cases statewide and a total of 487 nonresident cases. There have been a total of 19 deaths statewide, including a new one reported yesterday. The person who died was a female Fairbanks resident in her 80s with preexisting conditions.

For detailed information on COVID-19 in Juneau, the City and Borough of Juneau’s Emergency Operations Center provides daily updates on its local response to the pandemic. Read the updates here.