CBJ reports 44 new COVID-19 cases in Juneau July 24-26

The City and Borough of Juneau Emergency Operations Center reports 44 new individuals – 40 residents and four nonresidents – identified with COVID-19 in Juneau for July 24-26. Of the resident cases, Public Health attributes four to community spread, 13 to secondary transmission, one to out-of-state travel, and 22 are under investigation. Of the nonresident cases, two are visitors and two are identified as being from other sectors. All 16 cases associated with the American Cruise Line ship Constellation cluster have recovered, and Public Health considers it closed.

Cumulatively, Juneau has had 1,526 residents test positive for COVID-19 and 191 nonresidents. There are 112 active cases in Juneau and 1,600 individuals have recovered. All individuals with active cases of COVID-19 are in isolation.

“Over the past 14 days, 150 people tested positive for COVID-19 in our community, a significant majority of whom were residents,” EOC Incident Commander and Deputy City Manager Mila Cosgrove said. “We have not had a 14-day case count this high during the entire pandemic.  The more transmissible Delta variant is present in our community.  Please wear a mask when you are indoors, get vaccinated if you haven’t, and refrain from large indoor gatherings for the time being.”

In addition to these numbers, nine additional individuals have tested positive on three different cruise ships in the past three days while in Juneau – one on the Celebrity Millennium, one on the American Constellation, and seven on the Wilderness Explorer. These individuals are isolating either aboard their vessel or in local hotels. The risk to the community from these cases is minimal.

Statewide, the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services reports 562 new people identified with COVID-19 in the past three days – 535 are residents and 27 are nonresidents. Alaska has had 71,286 cumulative resident cases of COVID-19 and a total of 3,097 nonresidents.