Health

The Alpha variant of COVID-19 may be present in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, but it does not appear to be threatening in-person education at local schools this fall. That’s because public health officials have learned more about the COVID-19 virus. 

More mothers die in, or right after, childbirth in the United States than any other developed country, and that number is growing. Alaska has a lower rate than the national average, but still sees 6 to 13 maternal deaths each year, according to the Alaska Maternal Child Death Review Committee. Rates are highest among Indigenous mothers in Southwestern Alaska.

A strain of COVID-19 that spreads faster and is more harmful has shown up in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. The Alaska Department of Heath and Social Services has confirmed the presence of at least two cases of the COVID-19 Alpha variant in two villages in the region.

During their May 25 meeting, Bethel City Council changed its city-wide mask mandate. Previously, masks were required in all indoor public spaces in Bethel. Now, vaccinated residents can go about much of their business without masks.

The Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation is encouraging parents across the region to sign their 12-to-15-year-olds up for a COVID-19 vaccine. YKHC began vaccinating this age group in Bethel on May 13, and will begin sending vaccines to villages the week of May 17. 

The Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation said that it intends to support full-time, in-person schooling in the fall regardless of COVID-19 transmission rates in the region.

During the early hours of May 10, the Alaska Army National Guard rescued four stranded boaters and one dog on the Kuskokwim River between Bethel and Kwethluk.

Alaska children ages 12 to 15 may be able to get a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine as soon as the afternoon of Wednesday, May 12, said state health officials.