Daily Sitka Sentinel

Sitka ‘Does Better’ As Virus Rate Dips

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer

Lower COVID case numbers in recent days have taken Sitka’s rolling case rate to below 20 cases per day.

The current active case figure, though, remains high, at 170 active cases today. Sitka went into the “high” range - an average of more than 1 per day - on July 6, and has stayed there.

As for this past weekend, the dashboard shows 23 new resident cases on Friday, 12 Saturday, and three on Sunday. Today by press time five new cases had been added.

“We’re doing better,” said Fire Chief Craig Warren, the Sitka COVID incident commander. “I don’t think we’re doing well. We’re still putting up more cases than we can handle – we’re going to remain on ‘high’ if we continue to put up one case a day.”

He added that Sitka appears to be trending down at this time.

“We’re going to drop 93 cases (off the dashboard) in the next three days, so that’s a plus,” he said. “Remember: the dashboard only tells us what is currently happening, not what’s going to happen. We can see a trend going downward, but we don’t have a crystal ball with this dashboard – or this virus.”

Sitka’s 14-day rolling average remains the highest of larger cities in Alaska, at 237 per 100,000 population. Cordova-Valdez is next highest at 137, according to the New York Times COVID maps and charts. Other communities in Alaska are seeing big increases, with the Aleutians census area reporting a 14-day increase of 1,950 percent. Prince of Wales and Hyder have had a 2,100 percent increase.

On the same chart, Sitka had a 41 percent increase in cases over 14 days, a period that included two days of Sitka’s highest case count, 35 resident cases on July 20 and 21.

Harry Race Pharmacy and SEARHC held vaccination clinics last week. Pharmacist Trish White said her pharmacy administered 39 shots on Friday. SEARHC’s total for last week was 67, spokeswoman Maegan Bosak said. 

Bosak added that 118 residents are requesting the vaccine but many of them are in quarantine and can’t come in yet. SEARHC’s next clinic will be on Wednesday, with 35 people already signed up. Harry Race’s next clinic will be on Friday.

There is no charge to be vaccinated for COVID.

The number of “partially vaccinated” people in Sitka is 5,665, or 77 percent of the age 12 and up population, while 5,234 (71 percent) have been fully vaccinated. Seventy-nine percent of the Sitka population age 65 and older is vaccinated.

The entire community is currently under a mask-wearing mandate passed by the Assembly at an emergency meeting on Thursday. It requires the wearing of a nose and mouth covering at indoor public settings and communal spaces outside the home. There are a number of exceptions, such as for children under 2, people eating in a restaurant, or receiving dental care.

The emergency ordinance is posted at cityofsitka.org. There is a civil fine of $50 for violations.

Rachel Roy, director of the Chamber of Commerce, sent out a copy of the ordinance to businesses, and a sample sign that businesses can post. The Chamber, Visit Sitka and the city helped create the COVID-conscious business program at the beginning of the pandemic. Roy describes it as a “toolkit” that will continue to be helpful, with the passage of the mask mandate.

“We’re available if businesses have questions or need help figuring out how to make it work,” she said today. She said her office received a number of calls from business owners and managers prior to the Thursday meeting, and on Friday.

“Business owners were worried about people not coming in if masks were required,” Roy said. “There’s also business owners that believe this is the right route to getting us out of our ‘high risk’ status. ... I think it sets the standard for what customers should expect and how businesses should respond. The mask mandate is not permanent but is focused on getting our numbers down to a ‘low’ range.”

Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz said he has received “a lot of feedback” about the mandate, mostly from people who are “clearly upset.” He said most business owners seem to be pleased to have some guidance on a face covering policy for the community, but had specific questions.

“(They’re) just looking for an interpretation on how to conduct business now,” he said.

As a business owner, Eisenbeisz said, his staff at Russell’s is continuing to mask up as before, and provide face coverings for customers upon request. The store displays a laminated sign provided by the Chamber, “Face Covering Required.”