Norton Sound Health Corporation announced yesterday that two new cases of COVID-19 were found in the region.
According to NSHC, one patient is a resident of Nome who was identified as a close contact of a previously confirmed case, while the second individual is a resident of the Norton Sound. The regional health corporation did not say which community the patient is from, only that their case is considered travel-related.
NSHC says they will send extra staff and supplies to the regional patient’s home-community to offer village-wide testing. Local leaders are also planning to implement COVID-19 precautions to prevent an outbreak in their community, according to NSHC. Residents of the un-named community are all encouraged to get tested for the coronavirus and limit their interactions.
With the two newest cases, there are about 300 confirmed COVID-19 cases in total in the Norton Sound. 11 of those are currently active while 289 are considered recovered.
As of 12:00am today, Governor Mike Dunleavy extended the state’s Disaster Declaration for another month. According to a statement from the Governor’s Office, the declaration extension is, “necessary to manage the efficient and orderly administration of vaccines to Alaskans and address a new strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus identified in January 2021.”
The new Disaster Declaration is in effect through February 14th. All previous health orders issued under last month’s declaration have been renewed.
Correction: KNOM previously reported there were TEN active cases of COVID-19 when the tally is up to 11 based on the latest counts. This article has been updated with the correct information, KNOM regrets the inaccuracy.
Image at top: Particles from the coronavirus. Photo in the public domain via Creative Commons
