Due to sustained improvements in hospital and public health capacity, other risk indicators being at the low or moderate level, and Juneau’s high vaccination rate, the City and Borough of Juneau Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is reducing the overall community risk to Level 2 Moderate. At Moderate, the mask requirement changes, but all other COVID-19 Community Mitigation Strategies remain the same as modified Level 3 High. Juneau has been at the modified Level 3 since November 15.

This community mitigation measure on masking is effective immediately:

• Masks are required in indoor, public locations for not fully vaccinated individuals and are highly recommended for fully vaccinated individuals. Individual businesses/facilities may continue to require masking regardless of vaccination status. Please note: CBJ facilities will continue to require masking regardless of vaccination status. And per federal rule, masking remains required in airports, on planes, and buses for everyone 2 years and older regardless of vaccination status. Masking continues to be an effective layer of protection at mitigating the spread of COVID-19.

All other mitigation measures remain the same:

• Indoor gathering limit is 50 with masks required. There is no size limit or masking if all individuals at the gathering are fully vaccinated, though masking is recommended. Previously submitted exemption requests remain approved. New exemption requests can be submitted through [email protected].
• ​Restaurants are recommended to ensure distancing between parties. If not fully vaccinated, patrons must wear masks when not actively eating or drinking.
• Bars cannot exceed 50 percent capacity. If not fully vaccinated, patrons must wear masks when not actively eating or drinking
• Personal services are by appointment only; waiting areas at 50 percent capacity.
• Gyms are still limited to 50 percent capacity. Indoor classes are limited to fully vaccinated individuals only.

Read CBJ’s COVID-19 Risk Metrics and Mitigation Strategies here for more details.

The EOC believes the main risk of increased COVID-19 transmission in the short term will be related to travel and indoor family gatherings. If you are traveling, please utilize free COVID-19 testing provided by Capstone Clinic at the Juneau International Airport. If you are welcoming travelers from out of town for the holidays, please encourage them to also utilize free COVID-19 testing provided at the Juneau International Airport as well as self-tests before they’re introduced to your family bubble.

In accordance with CDC guidance, EOC urges residents ages 16 and up to get a booster. Go to juneau.org/vaccine to find availability. Data supports the efficacy of boosters against Delta and preliminary data supports the efficacy of boosters against Omicron.

For more information, contact CBJ Emergency Operations Center Incident Commander and Deputy City Manager Robert Barr at 907-586-5240 or [email protected], or email [email protected].

The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) reports 25 new residents in the Juneau community identified with COVID-19 for December 9 and December 10. According to Juneau Public Health, there are about 80 active cases. Of those: about half the cases are known exposures, mostly from household members or small gatherings; roughly a quarter appear to be community transmission; and Public Health doesn’t have enough information about the remaining cases to denote attribution.

There is currently one person with COVID-19 hospitalized at Bartlett Regional Hospital. The Juneau School District reports one new individual from Riverbend Elementary School who tested positive for COVID-19 and was infectious while in school.

Please note: This is the last COVID-19 case count update the City and Borough of Juneau will issue for the time being. Due to the wide availability and use of antigen self-tests, there is less data integrity; neither positive or negative test results from self-tests are counted in DHSS numbers. Additionally, the same information found in these case count updates is available in:

• CBJ Emergency Operation Center reports every Monday and Friday
• CBJ’s COVID-19 Dashboard
• DHSS COVID-19 Cases Dashboard
• COVID-19 cases related to schools are posted on juneauschools.org (click on the green “COVID-19 Cases” block) or here

Statewide, DHSS reports 453 new people identified with COVID-19 – 445 are residents and eight are nonresidents – in the past two days. Alaska has had 147,975 cumulative resident cases of COVID-19 and a total of 5,450 nonresidents.

For more information, contact CBJ’s Emergency Operations Center at [email protected].

The City and Borough of Juneau has added the Juneau Public Health Center and Juneau Police Department as public distribution sites for free COVID-19 self-tests. You can use these rapid antigen tests regardless of vaccination status, or whether or not you have symptoms. The test can be self-administered from home, or wherever, and returns results in 15 minutes. Here’s the current list of free self-test distribution sites:

• City Hall Cash Office
• All Juneau Public Libraries (Downtown, Mendenhall Valley, and Douglas)
• Juneau Public Health Center, 3412 Glacier Highway (across the street from Twin Lakes parking lot)
• Juneau Police Department, 6255 Alaway Avenue

At this time, the public can pick up two tests per family. The goal of the distribution is for families to have self-tests on reserve for when one might be needed. Do not go into any of these facilities to pick up self-tests if you’re feeling sick.

Here are reasons to use a self-test:

• You’re experiencing new symptoms of COVID-19.
• You’ve recently been in close contact with someone who tested positive.
• Consider using a self-test before joining indoor gatherings with others who are not in your household.

Currently, CBJ is distributing the QuickVue At-Home OTC COVID-19 Test. Here’s an instructional video on how to use this particular test. These self-tests are rapid antigen tests, which – while not as sensitive as PCR tests – can detect COVID-19 when it becomes transmissible.

While positive results are not counted in Alaska Department of Health & Social Services COVID-19 numbers, CBJ asks Juneau residents to report positive self-test results to Public Health (907-465-3353) to learn about possible treatment options or any other appropriate medical follow-up.

Please note: In light of the COVID-19 variant, Omicron, if you’ve recently traveled, please take the free COVID-19 molecular test that’s offered at the Juneau International Airport upon arrival. Similarly, if you’ve recently traveled and test positive on an antigen self-test, please take a follow-up molecular test at a local health provider or CBJ’s drive-thru testing site (register online or call 907-586-6000). Positive molecular test results from the airport or other facilities are sent to the State Public Health Lab for potential sequencing.

The Juneau School District also has a supply of COVID-19 self-tests. Read about the district’s Test to Stay Program protocols here.

Public Health has more guidance for rapid antigen COVID-19 self-tests here that will be handed out with the tests, or go to CBJ’s webpage.

For more information, contact CBJ Emergency Operations Center Incident Commander and Deputy City Manager Robert Barr at 907-586-5240 or [email protected], or email [email protected].

In October 2020, the City and Borough of Juneau Emergency Operations Center (EOC) opened Centennial Hall as a COVID-19 quarantine and isolation facility. The goal was to prevent the spread of the virus amongst vulnerable populations, which would have led to high rates of hospitalizations. Most individuals using the facility did not have permanent housing and many had severe alcohol dependence. To counter the potentially severe effects of alcohol withdrawal and reduce withdrawal-related hospitalizations, Bartlett Regional Hospital (BRH), Capital City Fire/Rescue (CCFR), and CBJ developed a Managed Alcohol Program that administered alcohol to individuals. Now, Juneau is being featured in a peer-reviewed research publication for its “innovative” response.

“Managed alcohol: one community’s innovative response to risk management during COVID-19” was published December 6 in Harm Reduction Journal. The article highlights how Juneau “recognized the complexity and potential risk to individuals experiencing structural vulnerability related to homelessness and a severe AUD [alcohol use disorder], and the community at large, and was able to create an alternative path to minimize those risks using a harm reduction strategy.”

CBJ Chief Housing Officer Scott Ciambor serves as the lead for the EOC Quarantine and Isolation Task Force. He managed the isolation program at Centennial Hall: “There are hundreds of logistical details necessary to safely house people on an emergency basis for 10-14 days. Implementing the Managed Alcohol Program was one of the most crucial.”

Early on in the planning stage for a public quarantine and isolation facility, Jeanette Lacey knew addressing alcohol withdrawal was necessary. Lacey is BRH Incident Command System Patient Tracking Unit Leader.

“We needed to ensure our good intentions didn’t cause unintentional harm with life-threatening, severe alcohol withdrawal, often requiring multi-day hospital admissions. And, we needed to meet medical and basic needs of the individuals to encourage people to voluntarily stay in an isolation facility for 10 or more days to prevent community spread,” explained Lacey. “I am incredibly proud of our community for how quickly everyone pulled together and the innovation, collaboration, and dedication across so many groups.”

The program administers alcohol to individuals through a physician-approved protocol which, according to Dr. Tim Quigley Peterson, developed organically and through collaboration. Peterson is CCFR’s Medical Director.

“The intake form asked how many drinks a day it takes for the individual to not get sick. The general answer range was 5-7. So we asked, ‘Why not give enough alcohol to prevent withdrawal?’ I wrote the initial protocol, consulted with Dr. Lindy Jones, and then with the team that included BRH to make further adjustments on implementation. Teamwork and collaboration were key,” Peterson said.

Though Centennial Hall is no longer used as a COVID-19 quarantine and isolation facility, the managed alcohol program is still in place for individuals referred to isolation at hotels.

For more information, contact Jeannette Lacey, Bartlett Regional Hospital Director of Case Management and Incident Command System Patient Tracking Unit Leader, at 907-796-8640 or [email protected].