Cluster grows to 30: Centennial Hall to open for isolation, Downtown Library temporarily closes

Due to the growing number of COVID-19 cases among individuals in Juneau who experience homelessness, the City and Borough of Juneau Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is standing up Centennial Hall this afternoon as an isolation facility. The EOC has also closed the Downtown Public Library to indoor service effective immediately; the library, instead, will provide curbside service for holds.

Last Friday, October 9, the EOC conducted 130 COVID-19 tests at Housing First, AWARE, and the Glory Hall. Results from that effort are starting to come in. At the moment, nine tests have come back positive. That brings the total number of cases associated with this vulnerable/unsheltered population cluster to 30, so far.

Centennial Hall will open this afternoon to serve as an isolation facility for individuals who’ve tested positive for COVID-19; the EOC will continue to use another facility for quarantine. To allow more medically trained staff to be onsite at Centennial Hall, Capital City Fire/Rescue’s sleep-off program will be moving from its current location at St. Vincent de Paul on Teal Street to the Miller Room at Centennial Hall.

The Downtown Public Library – a popular facility for individuals who experience homelessness – is temporarily closed to indoor service and is moving to a curbside delivery model for holds starting today. Library patrons interested in picking up hold items will be able to, upon arriving at the library parking garage, contact library staff to get their materials. More details, including hours of availability, can soon be found at juneau.org/library. The public can also contact the Downtown Library at [email protected] or 586-5249. The EOC will reopen the Downtown Library once the cluster is more fully identified and contained. The current operating hours for the Douglas Library and the Mendenhall Valley Public Library remain unchanged at this time.

For more information on the status of COVID-19 in Juneau, EOC staff and City Manager Rorie Watt will present a weekly update today, October 13, at 4 p.m. Watch the COVID-19 Community Update by joining the Zoom webinar https://juneau.zoom.us/j/98563085159, or calling 1-346-248-7799 or 1-669-900-6833 or 1-253-215-8782, webinar ID 985 6308 5159. CBJ staff will take questions from the media during the update.