Tag: coronavirus

Alaska manufacturers retool to produce test swabs, face shields

At least two small businesses in Alaska are retooling their operations from making things like custom car or gun parts, to producing face shields for protecting healthcare providers and printing the long swabs needed to test for the virus.

Citing coronavirus disaster, Alaska’s investment authority wants to bypass regulations to fund Ambler Road Project

Citing Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s coronavirus emergency declaration, the state’s investment authority is looking to bypass regulations to put funding into the Ambler Road Project. The...

Anchorage Mayor extends ‘hunker down’ order and delays tax day

Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz announced today the city is extending the hunker down order until April 14 in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

LISTEN: Coronavirus has changed how we socialize. How do we stay connected?

With routine, socialization and connection being such vital parts of mental health and wellness, how do we maintain these critical connections to family and friends?

Two Fairbanks healthcare workers test positive for COVID-19

Executive Director Shelly Ebenal said the first individual isolated at home after experiencing symptoms March 20. They received a positive test result Monday.
Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan take questions from reporters in the tunnel under the Capitol.

LISTEN: Congress put together a $2 trillion relief package. What happens next?

Congress has put together the largest financial relief package in history. Will it be enough to blunt the economic decline in the U.S? And what will it mean for Alaska's economy and workers?

Hair stylists, barbers, tattooists among those with fewest options amid coronavirus closures

Industry structure means many workers are uniquely ill-equipped for the mass closures now in place for the foreseeable future.

As number of COVID-19 cases grows, Alaska officials warn of a limited healthcare system

State officials pleaded with Alaskans on Thursday to stay home to avoid overrunning the health care system, but they did not go as far as ordering residents to shelter in place.

‘All these hurdles’: Family of exchange student stuck in Peru trying to get her back to Alaska

Alethia Belleque was planning to stay until June, but the coronavirus pandemic changed that. Now, her family is trying to get her back to Alaska.

That $2.2 trillion coronavirus bill — What’s in it for Alaska?

The U.S. Senate on Wednesday night passed stimulus and coronavirus relief bill. The House is likely to pass it Friday and President Trump says he’ll sign it into law. Here are some of the provisions that could help the 49th state.

Port of Seattle suspends cruise ship season “until the resolution of the public health emergency.”

The Port of Seattle made a decision to suspend its cruise ship season earlier this week, but cruise ships were already banned from sailing after Canada shut its ports earlier this month.

To curb coronavirus spread, North Slope Borough suspends travel into its communities

As coronavirus spreads across the state, the North Slope Borough has suspended air, sea and land entry into any of the borough’s eight village communities.

Alaska health department confirms 10 new COVID-19 cases

The case count rose to 69 by Thursday, up from 59 a day before.

‘Like we opened a new business’: Anchorage restaurants adapt to life without dining rooms

Some restaurants are keeping the doors open by adapting to this new normal. But, the transition hasn’t been easy.

How Y-K Delta villages will enforce travel restrictions

The number of villages in the Y-K Delta that are enacting travel restrictions in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus has been growing by the day, but how are these villages enforcing those restrictions?

Homes in Y-K Delta that were unable to pay for running water will be reconnected

Many more people in Y-K Delta villages will soon have access to running water to wash their hands during the coronavirus outbreak. On March 24, the Alaska Rural Utility Collaborative (ARUC)’s advisory committee voted to reconnect running water to homes that were unable to pay for it.

How well does hunkering down work? Time will tell.

Alaska’s chief medical officer and an epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say more evidence is coming that will inform policymakers’ public health mandates.

Behind bars, Alaska inmates and corrections staff brace for virus

There have been no confirmed cases of coronavirus in Alaska’s jails or prisons. But as of Wednesday, there had only been two tests conducted, both of which came back negative, according to the Department of Corrections.
Two crew men shovel a deck full of fish on board a large boat

State proposes $100 million loan guarantee program as hundreds of Alaska businesses seek approval for out-of-state workers

Some 600 business entities have filed plans with the state outlining how they'll safely bring out-of-state workers into Alaska to support "critical infrastructure" amid the coronavirus pandemic, officials said Wednesday.

Number of coronavirus cases in Alaska jumps to 59

The number of known cases increased by 17 from the announcement just a day earlier.