COVID cases continue to drop

By Peter Loewi

As COVID case numbers continue to drop in Nome and the region, Norton Sound Health Corporation is changing their testing program. Sunday, April 3 was the last day that testing was available at the Nome Airport, and Thursday, April 7 will be the last day that testing will be done at the Operations Building. Starting Friday, April 8, COVID testing willavailable at the Cough and Cold Clinic, located in the hospital. Testing in village clinics will remain the same.
There are currently 43 active cases in the region: 11 in Nome, 10 in White Mountain, eight in Wales, five in Shishmaref, four in St. Michael, three in Golovin, one in Brevig and one in Unalakleet.
 “[We’ve had a] pretty good last few days,” NSHC Medical Director Dr. Mark Peterson said, but reminded people that all these changes can be undone in the event of future COVID outbreaks.
One thing that won’t be changing anytime soon, however, is masking in healthcare facilities. “It’s just going to be part of what we do, it may never go away. Norton Sound Health Corporation, the hospital, the clinics, all of our locations, continue to mask. Any other medical facilities in the state and region are going to mask,” Dr. Peterson said.
The Center for Disease Control maps of safety levels continue to confuse people, because two different maps can show the same place with two different statuses. One map is based primarily on case rates, for which the Nome Census Area is still high, while the other shows a broader community transmission based on several factors including hospital capacity, for which this region shows moderate status. In Nome, a week straight of fewer than 10 active cases would move the city into the next lower category. In villages, Dr. Peterson suggested wearing a mask at meetings if there were more than one or two active cases.
Having recently approved a second booster shot for those 50 and older, the Food and Drug Administration’s advisors are meeting this week to discuss the next round of boosters, asking who needs what and when. Chief Medical Advisor to President Joe Biden, Dr. Anthony Fauci told National Public Radio “Will it be something like the yearly flu vaccine, or not? I have to emphasize: We don’t know the answer to that right now.”
The Centers of Disease Control announced on Monday, April 4, that it will be undergoing a month-long internal review. The agency, which has for decades been under-resourced, has faced a great deal of criticism during the pandemic, and the review is to advise of ways to change. “At the conclusion of this collective effort, we will develop new systems and processes to deliver our science and program to the American people, along with a plan for how CDC should be structured to facilitate the public health work we do,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky wrote in an email.
Also on Monday, Senators announced that they had reached on deal on further funding for pandemic efforts, allowing the administration to purchase more vaccines, tests and therapeutics. The $10 billion package notably leaves out funding for a global response to the pandemic. This decision has faced criticism because of the global nature of the pandemic and the evolution of variants in poorly vaccinated countries.
While things are looking like the U.S. has turned a corner on the pandemic, much of the world is still experiencing extremely high case rates. The BA.2 Omicron subvariant is now estimated to be the dominant strain the U.S. Reuters reported on Monday that 38,000 healthcare workers are being dispatched from around China to Shanghai as the city of 26 million extends their lockdown.
On Tuesday, March 29, Norton Sound Health Corporation identified 26 new COVID-19 cases in the region. 10 were in Nome, eight in St. Michael, four in Wales, two in Brevig Mission, one in Golovin, and one in Savoonga.
This made for 67 active cases in the region: 36 in Nome, 13 in St. Michael, five in Wales, three in Shishmaref, two in Brevig, two in Stebbins, two in White Mountain, and one each in Elim, Golovin, Savoonga, and Unalakleet.
On Wednesday, March 30, NSHC identified 17 new COVID-19 cases in the region. Nine in Nome, three in Wales, two in St. Michael, and one in each Brevig, Shishmaref, and White Mountain.
This meant that active cases remained steady, at 66: 32 in Nome, 13 in St. Michael, seven in Wales, four Shishmaref, three in Brevig, two in White Mountain, and one in each Elim, Golovin, Savoonga, Stebbins, and Unalakleet.
On Thursday, March 31, NSHC identified five new COVID-19 cases in the region. Of the new cases, there were three in Nome, one in Golovin, and one in Unalakleet.
These cases brough the region’s active cases down to 51: 22 in Nome, nine in St. Michael, six in Wales, three in Brevig Mission, three in Shishmaref, two in Golovin, two in Unalakleet, two in White Mountain, one in Savoonga, and one in Stebbins.
Over the weekend from Friday, April 1 to Sunday, April 3, NSHC identified 16 new COVID-19 cases in the region. There were five in Nome, four in each White Mountain and St. Michael, two in Golovin and one in Wales.
Active cases dropped to 24: eight in Nome, five in St. Michael, five in White Mountain, two in Golovin, two in Wales, one in Brevig and one in Shishmaref.
On Monday, April 4, NSHC identified 29 new COVID-19 cases in the region. Of the new cases, there were eight in Wales, seven in Nome, five in Shishmaref, five in White Mountain, three in Golovin and one in Unalakleet.
Since the start of the pandemic:
The USA has had 80,179,289 officially reported cases and 982,099 deaths due to COVID-19.
Alaska has had 239,750 officially reported cases, 3,741 hospitalizations and 1195 deaths. There are currently 36 people hospitalized in the state of Alaska due to COVID-19.
The Nome, Norton Sound and Bering Strait region has had at least 5,767 cases, 43 hospitalizations and six deaths.

 

The Nome Nugget

PO Box 610
Nome, Alaska 99762
USA

Phone: (907) 443-5235
Fax: (907) 443-5112

www.nomenugget.net

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