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The total active COVID-19 case count for Petersburg has reached 52 as of Thursday afternoon, according to a joint press release from the Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center. Six new cases were reported on Thursday, but additional positive cases have been added to the overall case count for Petersburg dating back to Sunday, Feb. 21. Petersburg has now reported 52 positive cases of COVID-19, up from the 46 active cases last reported by the EOC in a press release Wednesday evening.... Full story
The Emergency Operations Center is maintaining Petersburg's high risk level for COVID-19 transmission for at least another seven days, as positive cases of the virus continue to be identified and residents begin to recover. The EOC will assess the status of the recent COVID-19 outbreak on March 8 to determine whether or not to extend the community's red status, according to a joint press release from the Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center. Two more cases were confirmed on Monday,... Full story
Eleven more active cases of COVID-19 were reported in Petersburg on Tuesday, bringing the local case count up to 65, according to a joint press release from the Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center. In addition to the 11 cases reported on Tuesday, the Petersburg Emergency Operations Center identified one more positive case of COVID-19 for Monday's case count. One infected resident was also admitted into PMC Tuesday for treatment and monitoring, according to the press release. Three... Full story
The Canadian government issued an order on Feb. 4 to prohibit cruise ships in all Canadian waters until Feb. 28, 2022, but Dave Berg, cofounder of Viking Travel, said the restriction would only affect one cruise line expected to port in Petersburg this summer. Victory Cruise Lines' foreign-flagged ship Ocean Victory is scheduled to port in Petersburg eight times this season, with the first stop expected on July 17. According to the Jones Act, which regulates maritime commerce in the United...
A local resident who has recently traveled has tested positive for COVID-19, which is the first case reported in at least the last seven days, according to a joint press release issued Wednesday between the Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center. The individual has been quarantining since their arrival in town while waiting for the results of their COVID-19 test. The individual is currently in isolation, and the Public Health Office has been contacted. The community risk level...
Alaska's disaster declaration, which was used to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, expired on Sunday after the state legislature and Gov. Mike Dunleavy failed to extend the declaration. Petersburg's Emergency Operations Center Incident Commander Karl Hagerman said some local health mandates are unaffected, but other local mandates are suspended until the Borough Assembly can update them on Monday. With the absence of a disaster declaration, Dunleavy issued four health advisories on Feb. 14...
Petersburg Medical Center administered a second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Feb. 11 to residents who received their first dose on Jan. 14, said PMC Director of Nursing Jennifer Bryner at the COVID-19 community update on Feb. 12. About 350 residents received their second dose of the vaccine on Feb. 11. An additional 50 doses were also administered to first time receivers during the vaccine clinic, said Bryner. Those that received their first dose on Feb. 11 will get their second shot on...
He was my hero To the Editor: I was saddened to hear about the passing of Jonas Hollingstad and wanted to tell his family that he was the most important person in my life. In 1945 when I was seven years old I fell off the float in Scow Bay. Could not swim, no life preserver and current was taking me down and out into the Narrows. Had not Jonas been walking by at that moment there is no question that I would have drowned. He got me out of the water and up on the dock where he told me years later the first thing I said was, “Don’t tell my Dad...
The Deck Out Our Deck organizers just raised $5,374 through a raffle fundraiser on Feb. 14, which brings the project closer to the approximately $112,000 needed to build a covered deck at Mountain View Manor. A thousand tickets were sold to raffle off nine handmade quilts. As each ticket was drawn, each winner was able to take their pick of the quilts that had not yet been chosen. Sally Dwyer, the organizer of the fundraiser, said all the funds will go towards the Deck Out Our Deck project. The...
Fishermen must wear masks while they are underway, even while sleeping, and the Coast Guard intends to enforce it. That’s an edict issued as a public health emergency by the Center for Disease Control in a Marine Safety Bulletin issued on Feb. 1. It requires the wearing of masks at all times in U.S. waters on all commercial vessels “when boarding, disembarking, and for the duration of travel” to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 virus. The action states that “conveyance operators traveling into or within the U.S. may transport only persons...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) _ Alaska lawmakers, facing a looming deadline and disorganization in the House, have asked Gov. Mike Dunleavy to issue a new disaster declaration to aid the state's response to the COVID-19 pandemic despite legal questions surrounding his authority to act. Dunleavy is "evaluating the options and will make an announcement soon," Jeff Turner, a spokesperson for the governor, said by email. In a statement late Friday, Dunleavy said in the absence of a declaration, "my...
There are 30 active cases of COVID-19 in Petersburg as of 3 P.M. Tuesday, all of which were reported in the last six days, according to a joint press release from the Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center. The current active cases are predominately symptomatic and were infected through community spread, according to the press release. Public health officials are investigating the active cases, but contact tracing is proving difficult. Cases first started to appear in town Thursday,... Full story
The Emergency Operations Center has increased the local risk of COVID-19 spread to red, following 13 new active cases identified in the last four days, according to a joint press release from Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center. The EOC is currently reporting 16 active cases in the community. Of the current active cases, 11 are considered to be community spread, according to the press release. Those infected with COVID-19 are both symptomatic and asymptomatic, and two infected... Full story
Petersburg COVID-19 case count has risen by six cases since Monday evening for a total of 26 active cases, according to the Emergency Operations Center COVID-19 Dashboard. Twenty-four of the active cases are currently in Petersburg, while the remaining two cases are infected residents who are outside of the community, according to Incident Commander Karl Hagerman at a special Borough Assembly meeting on Tuesday. The EOC issued a CodeRed alert Monday evening to make the community aware of the... Full story
A motion to terminate the local face masking mandate failed at an assembly meeting on Monday after assembly members declined to second the motion. Assembly Taylor Norheim requested the action item be on Monday's agenda and made the motion to terminate Public Health Mandate #8. The motion failed to gain a second, which prevented a discussion and vote on terminating the mask mandate. The mask mandate was put in place by the Borough Assembly in November and will remain in place until the assembly...
A pre-hire employee for the 2021 tanner and golden king crab season at OBI Seafoods has tested positive for COVID-19, according to a joint press release from the Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center on Monday. The individual tested positive during the cannery's asymptomatic testing of all incoming employees, according to a press release from OBI Seafoods. The person is currently asymptomatic and is in isolation. Employees that may have come into contact with the infected individual...
Today (Feb. 11) will be a significant day for hundreds of Petersburg residents who head to the community gym for the second dose of Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine. Yet others received their first dose of the vaccine last week. Petersburg is taking yet another step towards a more normal life which we expect could bring an end to mandates, masks and the endless arguments being made in opposition to the health mandates that have clearly enabled Petersburg to minimize infections that have largely been...
The Borough Assembly unanimously approved an ordinance in its first reading that reestablishes user fees at the Parks and Recreation Center and allows anyone under the age of 18 to use the facility for free. Ordinance #2021-03 groups all users into two categories and establishes three types of fees. Those under the age of 18 are free to use the facility without payment, according to the ordinance. Those over the age of 18 either pay $5 per visit, $300 for an annual pass or $48 for a punch pass...
Seafood sales “are on fire” in America’s supermarkets and one king salmon from Southeast Alaska is worth the same as two barrels of oil. ($116.16 for a troll caught Chinook salmon averaging 11 pounds at the docks vs. $115.48 for 2 barrels of oil at $57.74/barrel on Feb.3) As more Covid-conscious customers opted in 2020 for seafood’s proven health benefits, salmon powered sales at fresh seafood counters. Frozen and “on the shelf” seafoods also set sales records, and online ordering tripled to top $1 billion. Those are some takeaways from a Nati...
Petersburg Incident Commander Karl Hagerman apologized at the COVID-19 community update on Friday for the borough's use of the CodeRED system on Jan. 29 that encouraged residents to put their names on Petersburg Medical Center's waitlist to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. "There was some concern that the system shouldn't have been used for that," said Hagerman. "We're listening to that. A lot of that had to do with the text of the message. We wanted people to sit up and take notice, but I think...
A new audio system is being installed in the Assembly Chambers this week, which Borough Clerk Debbie Thompson said will improve remote assembly meetings and open the door to in-person meetings on a limited basis. The Borough Assembly approved resolution #2020-18 at their Oct. 20 meeting that was a sole source contract to Chariot Group for the design and installation of a new multimedia audio system. The new system cost $39,970 and was paid for with the borough's Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and...
Two active cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in town this week, according to the Emergency Operations Center. The first case was identified on Monday after an incoming traveler had a tested sample collected at the Petersburg Airport, which later came back positive for the virus, according to a joint press release between the Petersburg Borough and Petersburg Medical Center. The individual had been in quarantine since arriving in Petersburg, and the EOC had determined the case presented a...
Excavation has begun for an affordable housing complex that is to be built on Excel St., which will make one-bedroom apartments available to residents making 30 percent or less of the local median income. Glenn Gellert of Swell, LLC, the real estate development company building the complex, said the COVID-19 pandemic and a shake up of its contractors has postponed the project. He said he hopes to begin renting units by Jan. 1, 2022. "Once we had all our ducks in a row, we were ready to go,"...
On Jan 29 the EOC used the CodeRED system to encourage residents who are interested in receiving the COVID-19 vaccine to sign up on the Petersburg Medical Center's waiting list. "Coordinating the vaccine implementation is one of the most important things we can do to beat the virus and getting the word out to make this happen is critical," according to the Borough's website statement. The use of the CodeRed system in this case, was wrong. Use of this emergency notification tool last Friday was...
Petersburg Medical Center continues to see lower than expected inpatient, outpatient and long term care resident income as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, but $2.2 million in grants is making up for the loss, according to PMC Controller Rocio Tejera at the PMC Board of Directors meeting on Jan. 28. Halfway through the 2021 fiscal year on Dec. 31, PMC had a total gross patient revenue of $1,370,614, which was 4.4 percent lower than budgeted, according to PMC financial statements. Year to...
