SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium issued the following announcement on March 13.
On Wednesday, March 11, representatives from the City and Borough of Wrangell (CBW), the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC), Wrangell Medical Center (WMC) and local Emergency Medical Services (EMS) representatives reconvened to consolidate current information and further prepare a local response to the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19). With Governor Mike Dunleavy’s Thursday announcement of Alaska’s first confirmed COVID-19 case, the joint community team is readying to elevate the local response while the CBW has announced the closure of some non-essential services.
“As a preventative measure, to reduce the risk of potential exposure through group or congregate activities, the Borough has made the difficult decision to close the Nolan Center, Library, the Pool and Recreation Center, and the Community Center for a minimum period of two weeks, beginning today,” said Borough Manager Lisa Von Bargen.
Wednesday’s joint meeting began with discussion of the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) updated COVID-19 screening questions. In addition to symptomatic requirements of fever and cough, or shortness of breath, criteria for being eligible for a COVID-19 test has been expanded to include travel to areas in the U.S. with significant outbreak occurrence, such as Wash., Calif., or N.Y., as well as recent travel to China, Italy, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, and Iran, or any exposure to a confirmed case. WMC is currently able to perform appropriate swab cultures locally and forward to the state approved lab for COVID-19 testing.
Original source can be found here.
Source: SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium
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