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Residents are invited to reserve a spot at the Wrangell Medical Center’s COVID-19 booster vaccination clinics planned for Dec. 9 and 16. Though infection rates in Wrangell and across Alaska have declined this fall, health officials are advising that case counts could rise as people spend more time indoors for holiday activities. The first clinic is planned for 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Dec. 9 for the Pfizer booster. Residents are advised to call 907-874-7000 and reserve an appointment. The third booster shot of the vaccine to help protect against C...
JUNEAU (AP) — A black bear cub in Southeast Alaska was euthanized after it became ill with avian influenza, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game said. It is believed that the cub, which was located in Bartlett Cove in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve west of Juneau, is the second bear diagnosed with the highly pathogenic bird flu, the Juneau Empire reported. Bird flu “passes really easily to poultry, but mammals aren’t really susceptible to it,” said Dr. Kimberlee Beckmen, a wildlife veterinarian for the department. “It’s difficult t...
Whether it’s a pesky case of the winter blues or a more serious health condition, Brooke Reynolds of the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium has words of encouragement for community members who are starting to feel the effects of the changing seasons. The lengthening hours of darkness “affect us all, some of us more than others,” said Reynolds, who is the clinical supervisor at Wrangell Behavioral Health. Even otherwise-healthy people can have “down days,” especially during the winter months. She recommends that her clients stay phys...
At first glance, the water therapy class in the Parks and Recreation swimming pool might look like a group of people just standing around in the water. But, like ducks on a pond, there's much more going on beneath the surface. Every joint from head to toe is being exercised during the class, offering a low-impact workout for participants and providing relief from the effects of arthritis. Around 32.5 million adults in the United States suffer from some form of osteoarthritis, the most common...
Doctors may get all the attention, hefty salaries and steamy medical TV shows, but they are not the only health care professionals who play essential roles in the real-life drama of a hospital. Laboratory teams work with pipettes and samples behind the scenes, performing the tests that doctors use to diagnose illness. Patients at the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium's Wrangell Medical Center can rest assured that their test results are being processed with precision. The center's...
Despite a global COVID-19 pandemic the past two and a half years, influenza — the flu — is still among us. To that end, the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium will hold a flu clinic from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 22 at the Wrangell Medical Center SEARHC is asking people to call and schedule a time slot to reduce wait time, however walk-ins are still welcome. The clinic was originally scheduled for Oct. 8 but was rescheduled due to a delay in the shipment of vaccines. Between 2010 and 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Pre...
The Wrangell Medical Clinic expects to receive doses of the new COVID booster this week or next, according to Randi Yancey, medical office coordinator at the clinic. Both the Pfizer and Moderna boosters will be available once the shipment arrives. The bivalent booster provides an immune response that is “broadly protective” against COVID-19, the Delta variant, and the BA.4 and BA.5 lineages of the Omicron variant, according to a recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration press release. As the original coronavirus has mutated over time, the ori...
A change to the school district’s COVID-19 mitigation plan calls for a reduction in testing and an increased focus on students and staff staying “symptom-free.” During the school board meeting Aug. 15, Schools Superintendent Bill Burr detailed what language was removed, what was added and what was kept in the ever-evolving mitigation plan. The district and board review the plan on a regular basis to make necessary changes. The district adopted the test-to-stay protocol last school year, which required students and staff to be tested for COVID...
After a mid-July surge to 1,021 COVID-19 infections among tourists at sea in a single week, the state Health Department reports the case count the past two weeks fell to an average of 550 per week. The record number of infections among non-residents, which the state refers to as “at-sea, purpose tourism,” was reported July 20. The July 27 count was down to 517, then 583 on Aug. 3. The state reports COVID statistics once a week, every Wednesday. At-sea cases averaged less than 450 a week from the start of the cruise ship season to mid-July. In...
The COVID-19 case count in Wrangell dropped last week to less than half the number of the previous week, but the infection numbers for cruise ship travelers to Alaska was double the rate of the previous four weeks. A highly infectious variant of the coronavirus is pushing up case counts in Alaska and nationwide, though illnesses are not as severe and hospitalization rates much lower than in previous waves, state and federal health officials report. The state’s coronavirus data dashboard reported 21 new cases in Wrangell for the seven days e...
Of Wrangell’s 667 COVID-19 cases reported to state health authorities since the count started in March 2020, almost 20% — 128 infections — have been recorded in just the past three months. That is double the statewide average, which shows about 10% of pandemic cases have been reported in the past three months. New variants of the coronavirus are pushing up infection rates across the United States as the nation works through its third year of the pandemic. Alaska’s seven-day case rate per 100,000 people was second highest in the nation as of l...
The SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium has placed its order with the state for COVID-19 vaccination doses for children as young as 6 months old, and could start distributing them to its facilities across the region this week. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Saturday approved the children’s doses of Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech. “At this point in time we do not have pediatric vaccine clinics scheduled, as we are waiting for approval and a definite timeframe for receiving our supply of vaccines,” Randi Yance...
A new report from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides the most comprehensive look so far at the disproportionate toll COVID-19 is taking on Alaska Native and American Indian people living in Alaska. Overall, Alaska Native and American Indian people have made up just about a fifth of the state’s population but nearly a third of all deaths, the report found. Between the start of the pandemic in March 2020 and last December, Indigenous Alaskans were hospitalized with the virus and died from it at rates three times t...
PHOENIX (AP) - Mary Francis had no qualms about being a poster child for COVID-19 vaccinations on the Navajo Nation, once a virus hot spot. The Navajo woman's face and words grace a digital flyer asking people on the Native American reservation to get vaccinated "to protect the shidine'e (my people)." "I was happy to put the information out there and just building that awareness and in having folks feel comfortable enough, or curious enough, to read the material," said Francis, who lives in...
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Scientists will set about 1,000 traps this year in their quest to wipe out the Asian giant hornet in Washington, the state Department of Agriculture said May 24. Scientists believe the hornets, first detected in the state in 2019, are confined in Whatcom County, which is located on the Canadian border north of Seattle. “We are doing pretty good right now,” said Sven-Erik Spichiger, who is leading the fight to eradicate the hornets for the state Department of Agriculture. “We know about where the nests are located in What...
Just as other communities, Wrangell is enduring a springtime bloom of COVID-19 cases. As of April 20, the state health department reported 79 new cases in the community in the past 30 days. Most of those were reported to the state in late March and early April, with new infections declining in the past week. The spread of the highly infectious disease is of particular concern at the schools. “We have had an increase in COVID and other illnesses during the past month and the schools have been struggling to find ways to stay open,” Sup...
Just hours after a federal court judge voided the federal face mask mandate for air travel and other public transportation, Alaska Airlines, United Airlines and American Airlines on Monday afternoon said masks would be optional on their flights. Other airlines are expected to follow suit. Alaska Airlines said in a statement that because of the judicial decision, passengers and employees effective immediately would have the option to wear a mask while traveling in the U.S. “While we are glad this means many of us get to see your smiling f...
The Alaska House went back to work on Monday after canceling floor sessions last week when several members refused to wear face masks amid an outbreak of COVID-19 among lawmakers and staff. At its worst last week, almost 10% of the 60 legislators and more than 300 staffers in the Capitol had tested positive for the coronavirus. House Speaker Louise Stutes said she canceled floor sessions due to an unwillingness by several Republican lawmakers to comply with temporary masking rules she had imposed. The speaker announced March 28 that masks...
Federal health officials are dropping the warning they have attached to cruising since the beginning of the pandemic, leaving it up to vacationers to decide whether they feel safe getting on a ship. Cruise-ship operators welcomed the announcement, which came as many people thought about summer vacation plans. An industry trade group said the move by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last Wednesday validated measures that ship owners have taken, including requiring crew members and most passengers to be vaccinated against the...
Alaska is one of 21 states with Republican attorneys general that sued March 29 to halt the federal government’s requirement that people wear masks on planes, trains, ferries and other public transportation amid the coronavirus pandemic. The lawsuit, announced by Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis and Attorney General Ashley Moody and filed in federal court in Tampa, Florida, contends that the mask mandate exceeds the authority of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The mandate in its current form may be in effect only a few wee...
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal officials are extending the requirement for masks on planes and public transportation for one more month — through mid-April — while taking steps that could lead to lifting the rule. The mask mandate was scheduled to expire March 18, but the Transportation Security Administration said last Thursday that it will extend the requirement through April 18. TSA said the extra month will give the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention time to develop new, more targeted policies that will consider the number of cases...
The fire department is continuing to hand out free, at-home COVID-19 test kits as the community’s level of new cases declines after a record-breaking January. Starting Dec. 30 and continuing through Jan. 30, the borough reported 185 cases in the community, the worst outbreak by far of the pandemic. Since then, the borough has reported 13 new infections, including six reported on Monday evening. As of Monday, the fire department still had 325 test kits, said Capt. Dorianne Sprehe. A shipment of an additional 242 boxes is on the way from the s...
Updated Friday evening, Feb. 11, 2022 Wrangell reported eight new COVID-19 infections Friday, raising the total to 21 cases since Jan. 31 -- a slower pace than the record-setting wave of 185 COVID-19 cases Dec. 30 to Jan. 30. The 206 cases reported by the borough since Dec. 30 represent about one of every 11 residents. After record numbers statewide in January, Alaska's count is in decline. The state health department on Friday reported 1,870 new infections over the past two days. At its peak in late January and early February, Alaska’s rate o...
Wrangell Medical Center has experienced staffing shortages due to the recent jump in COVID-19 cases, but it has not led to delays in procedures or rescheduling, said Carly Allen, hospital administrator. “We have been able to maintain full operations thanks to the hard work of our employees and the … (traveler) nursing staff that are still with us,” Allen said. Wrangell as of Monday was up to 190 COVID-19 infections reported by the borough since Dec. 30, almost three times the community’s highest monthly count of the pandemic and represe...
The school board on Monday approved changes to the district’s COVID-19 mitigation plan that would allow staff and students to return to school sooner after close contact with infected individuals or positive test results. Changes reflect the latest guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and in some cases cut isolation times in half. Masking and social distancing will still be required at all Wrangell schools. Schools Superintendent Bill Burr said the revised plan took effect Jan. 7, with staff and parents n...