Petersburg Pilot -

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 exposed to COVID-19, or are symptomatic.

The proclamation also says residents and visitors should fully cooperate with medical professionals and contract tracers, including quarantine measures.

The Petersburg COVID-19 Dashboard reports 35 active cases with 27 new positive cases in the past seven days. The Petersburg Medical Center warned of community spread during their last board meeting and called for the community to work together to ensure schools and businesses stay open.

Mitkof Middle School and Petersburg High School moved to remote learning Tuesday and remained virtual for the rest of the week. This came after cases were linked to the schools and contact tracing efforts faced difficulties according to Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter.

Giesbrecht listed reasons why he issued the proclamation including the shortage of monoclonal antibodies at PMC and community spread, especially among unvaccinated people, and the increase in cases in Petersburg and Alaska despite efforts to combat COVID-19.

The highly contagious Delta variant negatively impacts daycares, schools, and employers and is dangerous to the unvaccinated and children under the age of 12 who are yet to be eligible for the vaccine.

"The current outbreak situation in Petersburg requires the serious attention, effort, and sacrifice of all people in our community to avert unmanageable strains on our healthcare system and potential mandatory closures of businesses and facilities," Giesbrecht wrote.

The proclamation also warns that additional measures could be taken to protect the community if the recommendations are not followed.

Future action, including a potential mask mandate, will be discussed during Monday's assembly meeting.