SEARHC personnel test a colleague for COVID-19 at the employee screening tent behind the hospital. Sitka, Alaska. April 28, 2020. (KCAW photo/Berett Wilber)
Sitka health officials announced two more positive COVID-19 cases on Friday morning (6-12-20).
According to a press release from the Sitka Unified Command, the first confirmed case, a male in his seventies, was detected at the testing station at the Rocky Gutierrez Airport on June 7. He is a non-resident.
The second confirmed case is a man in his forties with symptoms who tested with a home self-collection kit.
This brings Sitka’s cumulative case count to eight — six resident cases and two non-residents. So far, three have recovered.
Sitka’s biggest day so far was Wednesday, June 10, with three confirmed positives. Public Health nurse Denise Ewing says all three of those cases are quarantining at home. One of Wednesday’s cases is a part-time resident, who maintains a home here. All three are doing well.
In an email to KCAW, Ewing said that she believes the case count in Sitka is on the rise because of expanded testing and the reopening of businesses and travel. She advises Sitkans to continue wearing masks, to keep six feet of distance, and to maintain very small social bubbles.
Editor’s Note: City officials released additional information to clarify that the hospitalized case count is cumulative, and the one hospitalized case listed in two recent press releases was a patient who is no longer in the hospital.
