Wrangell tallied nine COVID-19 cases between last Thursday and late Tuesday afternoon, as the community is dealing with a spike in infections.
"Health officials have found evidence of community transmission of COVID-19 in Wrangell,"the city reported Tuesday.
The latest case "is a household member/close contact"to another case reported earlier in the day, the city reported Tuesday afternoon. "The individual is a local resident and is in isolation."
Three cases were reported by the city last Thursday, a fourth case on Friday, another Sunday afternoon, then two more on Monday and two on Tuesday.
The community has tallied 48 cases since the start of the pandemic more than a year ago. Of these, 39 were reported as recovered and nine were considered active as of Tuesday.
"Community transmission happens when there are confirmed cases of COVID-19 and there is no source of infection identified in some of the cases and cannot be directly traced back to a known exposure,"the city said in a Monday evening announcement.
Due to the community transmission, and to reduce the spread of the Coronavirus, officials "are reinforcing the importance of practicing social distancing, wearing a mask or face covering when in public spaces, frequent hand washing and staying home when sick,"the city said Monday and Tuesday.
In a Facebook post on Sunday, Wrangell Public Schools said that public health officials had informed them that one of the city's recent positive cases was an individual at Stikine Middle School. No school closures were announced.
Statewide, 365 new infections were reported for last weekend, with an eight-person cluster of infections related to a small day care facility in Juneau, and one case at Mendenhall River Community School. The school switched to distance-learning on Monday.
The state reported 156 cases on Tuesday. Although counts are below the peak of November and December, Alaska's COVID numbers have been rising in recent weeks.
However, after a mid-February to mid-March outbreak of more than 100 cases, Petersburg last Friday reported no active COVID-19 cases for the first time in over two months.
In Wrangell, the city is reminding the public: "If you are experiencing symptoms, call the SEARHC COVID-19 Hotline at 907-966-8799 or your local health care provider."It added: "Get tested for COVID-19 even if you have one symptom, or mild symptoms."
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