A healthcare worker at the Bethel Elder’s Home tested positive for COVID-19. It’s the first reported case connected with the facility. The Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation operates the Elder’s Home and received the positive test result on Oct. 9.
Earlier this week, KYUK reported that at least three Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta communities are in lockdown because of COVID-19. That number has increased to at least four communities in lockdown: Emmonak, Quinhagak, Kipnuk, and Kasigluk.
The Y-K Delta experienced an unprecedented number of COVID-19 cases in a single day. On Oct. 5, the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation announced 20 new cases, all in Quinhagak. The news comes after YKHC announced on Oct. 2 that there was community spread of the virus in the village.
Update 12 p.m., Oct. 5: A tall, unoccupied wooden building known locally as the Old Swanson’s Apartment building is on fire. The Bethel Fire Department responded to the scene just before 7 a.m. on Oct. 5.
Community spread of COVID-19 is occurring in Quinhagak, according to the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation. YKHC announced the news on Oct. 3 in a joint press release signed by Native Village of Kwinhagak Tribal Administrator Ferdinand Cleveland Jr. and City of Quinhagak Mayor Jerilyn Kelly.
If you have been around someone who tests positive for COVID-19, you should expect to get a call from a contact tracer. Here's what to expect if you get one of these calls.
When the power went out in Newtok for a month, some families lost all of the subsistence harvest that they had stored in their freezers. Now, the village is banding together to help those families stock up again for the winter. Plus, donations are arriving from outside the community.
