As of last report, there have been no confirmed cases of the COVID-19 virus in Alaska. Nevertheless, the City of Bethel is heeding the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s advice to prepare for a greater spread of the virus within the United States.
According to Acting City Manager Bill Howell, city employee infectious disease training is on-going; personal protective gear is stocked; and communication lines are open with Bethel’s other health providers. Howell feels confident about the city’s ability to deal with the COVID-19 virus possibly spreading to Bethel.
“So we’re kinda hitting this on numerous levels,” he said.
EMS, police, and fire department workers have been training to respond to someone possibly carrying COVID-19. Howell explained that it involved “retraining folks on how to properly apply respiratory protection, also conducting respiratory fit tests to make sure that everybody has a good seal on their face mask so that it fits properly, talking about medical equipment that’s needed for the proper treatment, diagnosis of patients with that condition."
The city has also adopted a new policy, informed by best practices from the CDC, for emergency medical personnel responding to patients who might be carrying the virus. Howell described the policy as “a memo within our medical personnel describing what our protocols or procedures are in dealing with patients, and a decision tree on how to diagnosis it and the questions to ask."
Bethel’s fire and police chiefs have inventoried the city’s personal protective equipment. Howell called the stock “substantial,” and said that they are ordering more. “'Cause I suspect we’ll be using a few more N-95 masks and gloves and such than we were using prior, as there’s a greater awareness of this possible virus.”
The city is requiring all city directors to watch CDC webinars on how to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace and is making this information available for all city employees. The city is meeting with the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation and Public Health Nursing to coordinate their roles and responsibilities amid a virus outbreak.
On the city website, the public can find a link to the CDC’s information on COVID-19. Howell plans to keep the public informed on developments.
