As community spread cases continue to increase in Juneau, residents asked to step up COVID-19 precautions

Juneau continues to see an increase in COVID-19 cases that are a result of community spread. In the second half of August, more than a third of the 27 new resident cases were due to community spread. That means these individuals had no known contact to a positive case and hadn’t recently traveled within or out of state. These are the most concerning cases as their exposure may be due to undiagnosed and/or asymptomatic cases in the community. The City and Borough of Juneau urges community members to be extra vigilant in their personal choices.

On top of the normal precautions – social distancing, wearing a mask (which is required in indoor, communal areas), hand washing, and getting tested as soon as you notice symptoms – there are other effective ways to slowing the spread:

• Keep your social bubble small. If you’ve started socializing with more people, please consider shrinking your social bubble again.
• Keep track of your close interactions with others (people within 6 feet you’ve spent more than 10 minutes with) in case you get sick and others need to be notified. Here’s a sample tracking sheet. If, at this moment, you’re unable to name all your close contacts in the past few days, your social bubble is too big.
• Avoid being in a crowd, avoid long interactions with people outside your household, and avoid being around forceful exhalations, like coughing, yelling, or singing.

In general, smaller gatherings and fewer contacts are safer. Ideally, all contacts outside your immediate household bubble should include keeping 6 feet from others and wearing a mask. As Juneau continues to see an increase in COVID-19 cases that are a result of community spread, your actions make a difference.

For detailed information on COVID-19 in Juneau, the City and Borough of Juneau’s Emergency Operations Center provides daily updates on its local response to the pandemic. Read the updates here.