The news about the coronavirus is originating in the cities. As of March 19, all of Alaska’s nine identified cases of COVID-19 are in population centers. But media accounts, emergency orders, and protective measures reach all over the state. Hundreds of miles away from any positive test results, even the smallest villages in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta are now trying to make their homes and communities safer. KYUK surveyed 10 area villages to see what they were doing.
Most are taking the state’s designation of a public health emergency seriously and have limited public gatherings. Of the 10 communities we talked with, only one, Newtok, is taking exception to the statewide limitation of gatherings to 10 or fewer people. For over a year, Newtok Tribal Administrator Andrew John has been planning a Yuraq. He is calling anyone, including people at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to enlist their help so that he can hold his traditional Yup'ik dance gathering next week, as scheduled.
Most villages have canceled their bingo games and all community meetings. In Aniak, even the Catholic church has closed for the foreseeable future. Many village governments, nonprofits, and businesses have closed their doors, telling residents and customers to pay their bills electronically or by mail, and eliminating all walk-in traffic. Village clinics are only seeing people with appointments.
Public health concerns have overcome jurisdictional differences between municipal, tribal, and traditional councils. Every community KYUK contacted was taking a unified approach. In Kwethluk, a joint city and tribal Incident Command has been created, with village mayor Boris Epchook as Incident Commander. He says that the city and tribe met on March 13 and were planning another bigger community meeting for March 20, but now the group is thinking about how they can use telephone or Facebook to get the word out. Many villages are going back to a tried and true communication system: VHF radio. In Kongiganak, things like how to sanitize your home, and how much bleach to use in a basin of water to clean hands and keep things sanitary without running water are being broadcast on VHF.
Key to health responses in villages are the local clinics, which are managed by the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation. But some residents worry that these tiny clinics will be overcome if the coronavirus reaches the villages. They don’t see enough resources coming from the hospital in Bethel. In Aniak, the local fire department is looking at how to harness local EMTs and first responders to help if the clinic is overwhelmed with cases, or the local health aide gets too sick to work.
The big issue facing all these bush communities is who gets in or out. Grayling has taken the most aggressive stance and banned all travel for 30 days, including a ban on intervillage travel. The exception is transporting cancer patients and others with serious medical conditions. Upon return to the village, people will have to self-quarantine for a minimum of 30 days. Those who leave the village and come back will have to provide proof of COVID-19 screening.
Other communities are hesitant to go that far. Robert Pitka, Toksook Bay’s city manager, wonders how it’s possible to limit air travel to villages off the road system. He wonders how his neighbors will get their supplies. If flights are cut or restricted, even Amazon can’t deliver.
One of the people thinking deeply about what life will be like in the bush if things get really tough and the COVID-19 pandemic takes off here is Andrea Gusty, CEO of The Kuskokwim Corporation. She worries about the supply lines to village stores. She says that planes and barges will have to keep coming, but procedures need to be put in place to keep villages safe. So far, there has not been the kind of panic buying that has occurred in Anchorage. In Kongiganak, the store still has toilet paper and other basics.
In Aniak, The Kuskokwim Corporation owns the store, and has put staples on sale to help people stock up. So far, there are plenty of goods to resupply the shelves. But Gusty is trying to figure out how to make sure village residents won’t starve, no matter what. Among other things, she is talking about more hunting opportunities to keep larders and freezers stocked.