On Aug. 11, a Grant Aviation pilot tested positive for COVID-19. The airline revealed that the pilot had recently transported passengers between a number of Y-K Delta villages over a period of more than a week. Following the incident, some of those villages are taking the coronavirus pandemic more seriously.
Chevak Tribal Administrator Skye-Michael Chayalkun said that his phone started ringing off the hook when Grant Aviation announced that his village was one of the communities that the affected pilot had traveled to.
“It came as a quick shock to a lot of the community members, and myself as well,” Chayalkun said.
Grant had released a list of seven Y-K Delta communities that the pilot with COVID-19 had flown to. Grant Aviation Director of Safety Julia EIchler said that around 85 people traveled with the pilot over the course of a week. She said that Alaska Public Health Nursing is reaching out to the passengers on those flights directly, and that Grant’s public notice of the affected flights was just part of a strategy of “dual notification.”
Chayalkun said that Chevak has been able to aid in the effort to identify the passengers of those flights, since the village keeps a log of everyone who enters or leaves the community.
“We're currently going through our passenger lists of who came in and who's out flying out during those days, and verifying with each individual to do a personal health check,” Chayalkun said.
The tribal administrator said that the health check involves asking people about any symptoms they have, and requesting that they quarantine. He added that Chevak is one of several villages in the Y-K Delta with testing capacity for COVID-19.
In the villages that the Grant pilot traveled to, the urgency of the pandemic has ratcheted up. “With that Grant Air pilot, everyone is taking things more seriously now, and we’re starting to be more stricter on our guidelines and protocols for quarantining and stuff,” Chayalkun said.
Before last week, Chevak allowed its residents to travel for personal reasons. Now, Chayalkun says that residents can only travel when it is medically necessary.
Kipnuk is another of the numerous villages that the affected Grant pilot traveled to. Tribal Administrator Nick Slim said that the village is reacting similarly to Chevak.
“I think it made us more aware of the coronavirus risk getting into the village,” Slim said.
Slim said that more people in Kipnuk are wearing masks in public spaces, and he’s heard many residents calling for a stricter quarantine requirement for incoming travelers, including for people arriving from Bethel. The incident with the pilot makes Slim wonder if Grant is taking all the precautions it could take. He said that he’s heard at least a few tribal members complain about Grant pilots not wearing masks on the flight.
“There's room for improvement,” Slim said.
Eichler said that the company’s policy requires pilots to wear masks on flights. She also said that employees who live out of the state are required to test for COVID-19 before entering the region. However, employees who live in Anchorage are not required to test. Those employees are asked about any symptoms, and they have their temperature taken before traveling from Anchorage. She said that the company is continually evaluating its protocols.
Slim said that there is room for improvement from the community as well. He said that after this incident, he hopes that people choose to stay home more, to protect both themselves and others.
