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Juneau has a new resident case of COVID-19

July 10, 2020 – News

The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) reports today one new resident case of COVID-19 in Juneau. How the person contracted the virus is under investigation. The resident case is part of 55 new cases statewide – 51 Alaska residents and 4 nonresidents.

The new resident case is an employee at Bartlett Regional Hospital. The employee is not currently in the workplace and will only return to work after DHSS determines there is no further risk of transmission. All BRH employees were notified yesterday. Due to safety protocols already in place at the hospital, potential COVID-19 exposure is not widespread among BRH employees, and no patients were identified as close contacts. BRH is taking all appropriate precautions to protect the health and wellbeing of patients and employees.

Cumulatively, Juneau has had 47 cases of COVID-19 in residents, two of which are active. There have been a total of six nonresident cases; one is active. Within Juneau, Public Health Nurses are keeping track of 57 close contacts – individuals who have been within six feet of a confirmed case for at least 10-15 minutes, and are now quarantining.

Alaska has had 1,323 cumulative resident cases of COVID-19 – 718 are active – and a total of 258 nonresidents. Besides practicing basic preventive measures like handwashing, wearing a face covering, and social distancing, you can minimize your risk for getting COVID-19 by AVOIDING:

  • Being in an enclosed space
  • Being in a crowd or being unable to physically distance yourself from others
  • Having longer interactions with people outside your household
  • Being around forceful exhalations, like coughing, yelling, or singing