ANCHORAGE (AP) - Military leaders on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson have declared a public health emergency and encouraged all personnel to avoid places that do not require masks or social distancing in response to increasing COVID-19 cases in Alaska, officials said.
“We’ve all seen COVID-19 cases continue to spread rapidly across our nation, the state of Alaska and in our local community,” U.S. Air Force Col. Kirsten Aguilar, 673d Air Base Wing and JBER commander, said in a statement Sept. 17. “After close consultation with JBER mission commanders, I have decided to declare a public health emergency.”
Aguilar said the declaration will remain in effect for 30 days, but could be shortened or extended based on cases and community transmission of COVID-19.
The base has also transitioned to Health Protection Condition Bravo, which means Aguilar will be able to implement additional measures to protect against the spread of the Coronavirus.
“If the situation continues to worsen, additional measures to protect the force will be implemented, including restricting access to off-base establishments,” the statement said.
Hospitalizations and COVID-19 cases across the state have increased due to the highly contagious Delta variant. Alaska on Sept. 17 reported almost 4,400 new infections over the past week — including the highest one-day count since the pandemic tally started almost 18 months ago.
Just over 62% of the eligible population had received at least one vaccine dose as of Sept. 17, according to the state COVID-19 website. That’s about a dozen percentage points below the national average.
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