Bethel’s first positive case of COVID-19 required tracking down 81 people who had been in contact with the patient, who is believed to have picked up the virus while traveling. According to Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation spokesperson Mitchel Forbes, all 81 people that the patient was in contact with have completed the required 14-day self-quarantine, and no new cases have been diagnosed in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.
When the positive test results arrived on April 6, YKHC sprang into action, working with the Alaska Section of Epidemiology and state public health nurses to identify nearly all 81 people by 9 p.m. That meant finding everyone who had been within 6 feet of the patient for more than five to 10 minutes; all were contacted within 48 hours.
Nearly 98 percent of those contacts were tested and came back negative. Forbes said that the remaining contacts were “unable to be tested due to logistical challenges.”
For privacy reasons, the health corporation is not disclosing how the patient who was diagnosed with COVID-19 is progressing.