A person who resides in a Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta village has tested positive for coronavirus while in Anchorage. The Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation announced the positive result today, June 12, and is not releasing the name of the village where the individual resides to protect patient privacy. The person tested positive at the Alaska Native Medical Center and is currently self-isolating in Anchorage.
YKHC, in conjunction with the State of Alaska Section of Epidemiology, is contacting people who have been in close proximity to the individual to provide testing and instructions on precautions to take. Tomorrow, June 13, YKHC is sending a team to the village where the individual resides, to provide widespread coronavirus testing and offer medical support.
The coronavirus is continuing to spread in the state of Alaska. YKHC confirmed two cases within two days in Bethel this week, a first for the region. Also this week, Alaska saw its highest number of active COVID-19 cases since the virus arrived in the state, with 202 cases on June 11.
YKHC encourages everyone to continue practicing protective measures to slow or prevent the virus from spreading, including avoiding all non-essential travel, regularly washing hands, remaining more than 6 feet from anyone who does not live in your same household, wearing a mask in public, and frequently disinfecting often-touched surfaces in your home.
YKHC will be offering testing at the drive-through tent outside the Bethel hospital for Bethel residents concerned that they might have been exposed to the virus. Testing will be offered on Monday, June 15, from noon to 4 p.m. No appointment or doctor referral is necessary. However, YKHC does require Bethel residents who choose to get tested to self-isolate at home until results are available, which could take five to seven days.
In addition, the health corporation is offering free coronavirus tests to all travelers flying into Bethel at the Bethel airport, and it urges all incoming passengers to get tested. The city government is looking at what it can do to encourage compliance.
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 to the Bethel hospital or village clinic, but instead to call their village clinic or the Bethel hospital at 543-6949.
