Sorted by date Results 1 - 24 of 24
Ambler Moss, the Petersburg School District's new secondary school principal, and his wife Thandar Myint visited Petersburg for the first time last week after he was offered the position. During their trip, Moss toured the schools, talked with students and staff, and met with members of the community during a meet and greet Friday evening. "We're psyched, we're excited about it, my wife's very enthusiastic about it," Moss said. Moss has experience teaching K-12 and has served as the head...
Petersburg Medical Center CEO Phil Hofstetter gave a report on the latest COVID-19 outbreak and its impact on the hospital during the PMC Hospital Board's December 2 meeting. According to Hofstetter, PMC saw over 230 individual Petersburg residents with COVID-19 in November. It was the largest outbreak Petersburg has seen since the start of the pandemic, caused in part by the spread of the highly transmissible delta variant. Approximately 16% visits to the ER in November were for COVID-19 and...
The Petersburg Medical Center Hospital Board met Thursday to discuss the latest COVID-19 outbreak attributed to the delta variant and its effects on the community. PMC CEO Phil Hofstetter presented a graph highlighting the two highest spikes in COVID-19 cases in Petersburg since September of 2020. The first spike occurred near the end of February and beginning of March 2020, shortly after Alaska's emergency declaration expired, and peaked at just under 70 cases. The second spike occurred near...
Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht issued an emergency proclamation Friday recommending actions to help slow the spread of COVID-19 in Petersburg. The proclamation recommends masking and social distancing in public indoor settings, regardless of vaccination status. Additionally, it encourages organizations and businesses to reduce capacity and avoid large gatherings. It recommends people to get vaccinated, saying they are safe, effective, and free, and get tested if they plan on traveling, are exp...
Silent majority must stand up To the Editor: We of the silent majority must stand up and make our voices heard. The only way Covid-19 or its variants will ever be behind us is if the vast majority of us are vaccinated. People say “I probably won’t get very sick.” That may be true for you and your family but you might kill your neighbor. Christians are commanded to love their neighbor as themselves. This isn’t just a suggestion, it is a commandment. You may be worried that the shot will make you sick. I had my first shot in January and my third...
Borough Manager Steve Giesbrecht issued an emergency proclamation Friday recommending actions to help slow the spread of COVID-19 in Petersburg. The proclamation recommends masking and social distancing in public indoor settings, regardless of vaccination status. Additionally, it encourages organizations and businesses to reduce capacity and avoid large gatherings. It recommends people to get vaccinated, saying they are safe, effective, and free, and get tested if they plan on traveling, are exp... Full story
The Petersburg School Board voted to amend COVID-19 regulations set by the district's Moderate Risk Plan during Tuesday's meeting. The amendment eased the school's masking policy and made changes to color designations, travel policy, and quarantine rules outlined in the plan. The amendment passed with a vote of 4-1 with Cheryl File opposed. Most of the changes were made to the yellow status of the Moderate Risk Plan. Indoor masking is required for all K-12 students regardless of vaccination...
Medical professionals spoke at the Petersburg School Board meeting Tuesday night about the impact that COVID-19 is currently having on the state of Alaska. Dr. Jennifer Hyer with the Petersburg Medical Center provided a medical update to the board. She agreed with the board's number one stated goal of maintaining in person learning and said Petersburg is fortunate to have a low number of cases and proceeded to provide context for the rest of the state. "I wish I could deliver better news but...
The Petersburg post office has decreased its service hours after feeling the impacts of staffing shortages according to James Boxrud at USPS Strategic Communications. The customer service window is limited to being open from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday. Shortened hours have resulted in lines wrapping around the building as people wait to pick up their packages or conduct transactions. Boxrud attributed the lack of staffing to hiring...
The Petersburg School District held its first week of in person school with COVID-19 guidelines in effect. Approximately 430 students are expected to be attending school this year as some children are still anticipated to arrive in Petersburg. They have already made it one week without issues according to Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter "The first week was great, and kids were happy to be back, and we were happy to have them here," Kludt-Painter said. "We're off to a pretty good start." The...
Sebastian O'Kelly, the Borough Assembly's federal lobbyist with Robertson, Monagle & Eastaugh gave an update during Tuesday's meeting. O'Kelly spoke on a number of topics pertinent to the borough that are being discussed in Washington D.C. during his report including new Coast Guard vessels, funding for a new hospital and the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure plan. According to O'Kelly, the Coast Guard has begun upgrading its vessel fleet and will be replacing the USCGC Anacapa which is base...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) —The number of Alaskans hospitalized with COVID-19 has risen, worrying health care providers who are facing staffing issues and fatigue and wondering when the latest wave of cases might peak. “I think our hope right now is that we’re going to hit the peak this month. I’m speaking purely from a hope standpoint,” said Jared Kosin, president and CEO of the Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association. He added: “Nobody can figure out when we’re going to hit the ceiling, and that is what makes this so challenging....
Petersburg Medical Center CEO Phil Hofstetter spoke to the PMC Board about staff turnover and vaccinations during Thursday's meeting. The healthcare industry has seen turnover across the country according to Hofstetter's report and PMC is seeing its own ups and downs with staffing. Hofstetter said some departments in the hospital have faced challenges whenever departures occur, but PMC has been fortunate in retaining staff compared to national data. According to Hofstetter, in the past seven...
The Petersburg Medical Center discussed the delta variant's impact on Petersburg and the future of COVID-19 testing and vaccinations during Thursday's board meeting. According to Infection Prevention and Quality Manager Liz Bacom, all of the positive cases in Petersburg in August were travel related and there have not been any cases linked to community spread. Bacom said that an outbreak is not a matter of if, but when, and the earlier cases are identified through asymptomatic testing, the...
It seems like we've been here before. Mask use is low, positivity rates are low (3.3%), only 3 active cases in town and 55.6 % of us are fully vaccinated. The temptation is to let our guards down as COVID-19 fatigue sets in and makes us forget about masking, social distancing and hand washing protocols. That is all that needs to happen to allow a surge of cases to run amok in Petersburg. To avoid infection, get vaccinated. The much higher transmission rate of the delta variant is one of the...
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 COVID-19 dashboard is reporting one new case in the past week for a total of four active cases. According to the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services' vaccine monitoring dashboard, 65% of Petersburg Borough residents ages 12 and up have received one or more doses. Chief Nursing Officer at PMC Jennifer Bryner said that though there was much interest when the vaccine was first released, the number of people signing up for the vaccine waiting list at the hospital has...
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...
Petersburg recorded its second COVID-19 death on Friday according to the Alaska Department of Health and Social Service's COVID-19 Dashboard. The Alaska COVID-19 data summary reported that the death in Petersburg was a male in his 70s. The Petersburg COVID-19 Dashboard has listed that there are five active cases in Petersburg as of July 28 with 55.0% of the population fully vaccinated. Alaska reported 562 new cases between July 23 and 25, which has also seen the statewide alert level remain high...
The Petersburg Medical Center Board reviewed the recent COVID-19 outbreak during their July 22 meeting. Infection Prevention and Quality Manager Liz Bacom presented a report on the increase of COVID cases in July. According to Bacom’s report, the two contributing factors were the arrival of the American Cruise Lines vessel Constellation and the Independence Day celebrations. Four passengers and two crew members from the Constellation with positive tests isolated in Petersburg while recovering f...
The Petersburg Medical Center is advising residents to get tested early if experiencing symptoms amid community spread of COVID-19. The Petersburg COVID-19 Dashboard has been updated to reflect that there are eight active cases in Petersburg as of July 22. Seven of these cases are Petersburg residents while one is a non-resident. PMC says that recognizing symptoms early on and getting tested helps their ability to treat COVID-19 illness. Free asymptomatic testing is available and can be... Full story
Petersburg recorded its second COVID-19 death on Friday according to the Alaska Department of Health and Social Service’s COVID-19 Dashboard. The Alaska COVID-19 data summary reported that the death in Petersburg was a male in his 70s. The Petersburg COVID-19 Dashboard has listed that there are eight active cases in Petersburg as of July 26 with 54.3% of the population fully vaccinated. Alaska had 447 new cases reported between July 21 and 22, which has also seen the statewide alert level r... Full story
Petersburg Medical Center reports 10 active COVID-19 cases with one previous case being considered as recovered. Three additional cases have been confirmed in the past three days. All three cases are Petersburg residents who have been instructed to isolate at their homes. Alaska Public Health has received an update on the current numbers and will begin contact tracing. Of the 10 active cases, seven are residents of Petersburg, while three are non-residents. Each positive sample is referred to th... Full story
Two previously identified COVID-19 cases in Petersburg have been identified as the Delta variant according to the Petersburg Medical Center. One is a resident of Petersburg and the other is a non-resident. As of July 16, two additional cases have been identified, both of which are Petersburg residents, bringing the total number of active cases up to 13. They have been instructed to isolate and Alaska Public Health will begin contract tracing. Of the 13 active cases, seven are Petersburg... Full story
