The Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation announced two more cases of COVID-19 over the weekend. These are the 16th and 17th cases related to the region.
On July 3, YKHC announced that a person who lives in a Y-K Delta village tested positive for COVID-19 while in Anchorage. YKHC is not disclosing the individual’s home village to protect patient privacy. The health corporation said that the person was not in the Y-K Delta during the time they would have been considered infections for the disease, and that the individual is self-isolating in Anchorage.
Also on July 3, another person traveling into Bethel tested positive for COVID-19 using a rapid test. The person is not a Bethel resident. The following day, July 4, YKHC tested the person again for COVID-19 using an in-house lab test. The second test returned negative, and YKHC sent a third test to the state lab. These results will take five to seven days to return. The person is self-isolating in Bethel, and after tracing contacts, YKHC said that close contacts were “minimal and YKHC is highly confident potential risk to the community is very low.”
The day prior, on July 2, YKHC also annouced two COVID-19 cases in one day, what was a first for the region.
Although the state has reopened most of the economy, YKHC urges the public to continue to avoid non-essential travel, practice handwashing and social distancing, wear a mask in public, and frequently disinfect high-touch surfaces in their homes.
Symptoms of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, include fever, chills, cough, shortness of breath, diarrhea, and a diminished sense of taste or smell. Anyone with these symptoms is asked to not go see a medical provider, but instead to call their village clinic or the Bethel hospital at 907-543-6949.
