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There were eight active cases in Petersburg reported Wednesday according to the Petersburg Medical Center's COVID-19 Dashboard. All active cases are related to travel and community spread is not currently being identified. Nearly every Borough and Census Area in Alaska is on a high alert level as case numbers have reached their highest levels since December 2020 according to the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services. Travel increases the risk of COVID-19 infection and PMC continues to...
Breakthrough COVID-19 cases found in Alaska April 30 Between Feb. 1 and March 31, Alaska Department of Health and Social Services identified 152 positive cases of COVID-19 among people in the state who were fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to a report from DHSS. About 74 percent of the vaccine breakthrough cases, or 112 individuals, were among people who had received the Pfizer vaccine, according to the report. Thirty-eight percent of the breakthrough cases had received the Moderna... Full story
Me, Myself and I To the Editor: Millions of people are sick and dying of covid, or as the unbelievers, uneducated call it "the Sniffles." I can't understand with 99% of the medical community saying covid, especially covid delta is making millions of us sick and killing us yet people refuse to get a simple vaccine approved by the FDA. It saves lives and keeps people from extreme illness. Why do people listen to talk show host Phil Valentine (RIP) who told his followers not to get vaccinated with...
There were eight active cases in Petersburg reported Monday according to the Petersburg Medical Center’s COVID-19 Dashboard. All active cases are related to travel and community spread is not currently being identified. Every Borough and Census Area in Alaska is on a high alert level as case numbers have reached their highest levels since December 2020 according to the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services. Travel increases the risk of COVID-19 infection and PMC continues to encourage... Full story
The Borough Assembly discussed the Petersburg School District's reopening plan during Monday's meeting. PSD released their moderate risk reopening plan Friday which includes a two week universal mask mandate and quarantine protocols for the upcoming school year. The discussion item was requested by Assembly Member Jeff Meucci who wanted to see what the assembly thought of it. Meucci said that he thought that masking up for the first two weeks was a good plan and that it is important to get the...
The Petersburg School District released its reopening plan Friday which outlines COVID-19 guidelines for the upcoming school year. The school district formed a moderate risk plan that includes a universal masking policy in school until the next school board meeting on September 14. A local Health Advisory Committee including a representative from the school board, Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter, Principals Heather Conn and Rick Dormer, Activity Director Jaime Cabral, a Public Health nurse,...
Eight non-residents on a private boat tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday after arriving in Petersburg according to the Petersburg Medical Center. The non-residents notified PMC of their symptoms upon arrival and all passengers tested positive. Those onboard the boat have begun isolating and are not at risk of spreading COVID to the community. According to the PMC COVID-19 Dashboard, there are nine active cases in Petersburg and a third death has been reported although details about it have...
The Borough Assembly unanimously voted to relinquish a parcel of land containing a Federal Aviation Administration site at Frederick Point during Monday's meeting. The FAA site, which measures 3.5 acres, is included in the list of municipal land selections according to Community and Economic Development Director Liz Cabrera who recommended that the borough relinquish the property due to contamination at the site. "It's on the DEC Contaminated Sites List and it has high levels of arsenic which...
The Petersburg School Board held discussions about what protocols should be enacted for the upcoming school year during Tuesday's meeting. The talks were a continuation of those held during a work session on July 30 where the board tried to determine what guidelines best fit the Petersburg School District while weighing potential risks such as the spread of the delta variant. Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter said that two of the main points of the discussion would be masking and travel...
The Petersburg School Board had a work session Friday to outline preliminary ideas for COVID-19 guidelines for when students return. The board considered an assortment of measures ranging from masking requirements and regular testing at school to travel precautions. Though some specific guidelines were discussed, Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter stressed that these early ideas were not set in stone. "These are very rough thoughts," Kludt-Painter said. "These are very preliminary thoughts...
Eight non-residents on a private boat tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday after arriving in Petersburg according to the Petersburg Medical Center. The non-residents notified PMC of their symptoms upon arrival and all passengers tested positive. Those onboard the boat have begun isolating and are not at risk of spreading COVID to the community. Asymptomatic testing will be available at no charge to residents on Thurs., Aug. 12 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the respiratory clinic. Testing for... Full story
Petersburg Medical Center reports four positive COVID-19 cases locally since July 9. On Fri., July 9 a resident of Petersburg tested positive for COVID 19 and is isolating at their home. On Sat., July 10 a guest from the American Cruise Lines Vessel American Constellation tested positive and is isolating in Petersburg with a family member who had tested positive previously. An American Cruise Lines representative is staying in Petersburg to assist them. On Mon., July 12 two new cases tested...
Fishermen are the ears and eyes of the marine ecosystem as a changing climate throws our oceans off kilter. Now a new phone app is making sure their real life, real time observations are included in scientific data. The new Skipper Science smartphone app, released on June 18, comes from the Aleut Community of St. Paul Island in the Bering Sea as a way “to elevate the thousands of informal-yet-meaningful environmental observations by fishermen and others into hard numbers for Alaska’s science-based management,” said Lauren Divine, Director of Ec...
Petersburg Medical Center reports four positive COVID-19 cases locally in the past four days. On Fri., July 9 a resident of Petersburg tested positive for COVID 19 and is isolating at their home. On Sat., July 10 a guest from the American Cruise Lines Vessel American Constellation tested positive and is isolating in Petersburg with a family member who had tested positive previously. An American Cruise Lines representative is staying in Petersburg to assist them. On Mon., July 12 two new cases... Full story
The Emergency Operations Center demobilized and dissolved at 11:59 P.M. on Wednesday, along with the repeal of the local Emergency Disaster Declaration. "Over the past sixteen months, our community has worked together to put processes and infrastructure in place to combat the COVID-19 pandemic," the EOC said in a press release issued Wednesday. "Community partners from all corners of our community have come together to collaborate, share resources and reduce the impacts of COVID-19 as much as...
Local business owners are pessimistic about Petersburg's economic recovery in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a survey conducted by Southeast Conference. Every year, Southeast Conference performs a survey to track the business climate and investments of Southeast Alaska businesses. In Petersburg, 32 business leaders participated in the 19-question survey, which was administered between April 9 and 23. The survey found that 48 percent of local businesses had a decline in revenue a...
The Borough Assembly repealed three local health mandates and one public health alert and amended Health Mandate #5 at an assembly meeting on Monday. The changes to the local health mandates and alert were presented to the assembly as recommendations from the Emergency Operations Center. The assembly had the option to discuss and vote on each health mandate and the alert individually, but instead voted to approve the EOC's recommendations in one unanimous vote. At a special meeting on May 1,...
Alaskan interest in growing kelp continues to outpace that of shellfish, based on applications filed during the annual window that runs from January through April. The number of 2021applicants dropped to just seven, reversing a steady upward trend that reached 16 last year, likely due to a "wait and see" approach stemming from the pandemic. "We had people whose personal situations changed because of COVID. They became homeschooling parents, things like that, where they can no longer dedicate...
One new positive case COVID-19 was identified by the Petersburg Medical Center on Tuesday, bringing the local active case count to four, according to a joint press release from the Petersburg Borough and PMC. The positive case was travel related and was the only confirmed case identified in the last week. On May 4 and 5, three individuals within a single household tested positive for COVID-19. Incident Commander Karl Hagerman said all four currently active cases of the virus were related to out...
Cannery workers at Trident Seafoods are asked to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to work this season, while Tonka Seafoods is leaving that decision up to their employees. "Like last year, we are making the health and safety of our employees, fishermen, and community members our top priority," said Shannon Carroll, a representative of Trident Seafoods, in an email to the Pilot. He said both resident and non-resident employees will have to be fully vaccinated to work at the plant. Through...
The local Emergency Operations Center will be presenting the Borough Assembly with recommendations to change some local health mandates at their meeting on Monday. Incident Commander Karl Hagerman said the EOC's recommendations tie into the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention move towards loosening COVID-19 protocols for Americans who are fully vaccinated against the virus. The recommendations also come at a time when Petersburg is reporting zero active cases of COVID-19 for the first tim...
The Emergency Operations Center will be scheduling a risk assessment meeting to discuss whether or not to increase the local risk level for COVID-19 from yellow to orange after seven cases of the virus were identified locally over the course of two days, according to a joint press release from the Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center. Six individuals tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday, five of whom were identified through PMC's symptomatic testing, and one case was identified...
The Petersburg Emergency Operations Center reassessed the local COVID-19 risk level on Monday and lowered the community from a moderate risk to a low risk level. The decision comes as Petersburg recovers from a local outbreak. Petersburg was at a red risk level or COVID-19 transmission for 22 days. The community was at an orange risk level for just one week before the EOC lowered it down to yellow. As of Wednesday, Petersburg has gone over seven days without a new case of COVID-19 being reported...
Petersburg's COVID-19 case count remained at 10 on Wednesday, as no new cases of the virus were reported and no infected residents were released from isolation, according to a joint press release for the Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center. Wednesday was the second day in a row that Petersburg had an active case count of 10. In the past week, Petersburg has reported five new cases of COVID-19, but 12 infected residents were released from isolation in that same timeframe. The drop...
Sixteen infected residents were released from isolation on Wednesday, while just one new active case has been added to Petersburg's active COVID-19 case count, according to a joint press release from the Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center. Additionally, Petersburg is only reporting 16 active cases of COVID-19 as of 4 P.M. on Wednesday. The current case count is the lowest the town has seen since Feb. 21 when Petersburg was reporting 13 cases. The Petersburg Operations Center has...
