New rules for traveling to Alaska communities off the ferry/road system

To reduce the spread of COVID-19, Governor Mike Dunleavy recently issued new testing requirements and guidance for traveling within the state, specifically traveling from communities on the ferry/road system to communities off the ferry/road system (ferry refers to the Alaska Marine Highway System or the Inter-Island Ferry System). These rules take effect this Saturday, November 21. Here’s how they apply when traveling in and out of Juneau.:

• Juneau residents planning to travel to a community off the ferry or road system are required to get a COVID-19 test within 72 hours prior to travel and should not travel until a negative test is received. If travel cannot be delayed until the test result is available, the traveler must follow strict social distancing until they receive a negative result. Testing for this purpose can be done daily at the Juneau International Airport 2 p.m. – 7 p.m. by making an appointment here.
• People traveling from a community off the ferry or road system to Juneau and staying in Juneau more than 72 hours are required to get a COVID-19 test within 72 hours prior to traveling back home and should not travel until a negative test is received. If travel cannot be delayed until the test result is available, the traveler must follow strict social distancing until they receive a negative result. Testing for this purpose can be done daily at the Juneau International Airport 2 p.m. – 7 p.m. by making an appointment here.
• People traveling from a community off the ferry or road system to Juneau and staying in Juneau less than 72 hours can travel back home without testing, but have to either test for COVID-19 within 5 days of being home and follow strict social distancing until negative results are received, or follow strict social distancing for 14 days if no test is taken.

Anyone who is currently infected with COVID-19 must not travel to a community off the road/ferry system until they are cleared from isolation by a medical professional. Asymptomatic people who have recovered from a documented COVID-19 infection within the past 90 days are exempt from testing requirements.

For more information on these rules, please read the State of Alaska’s COVID-19 Health Order 8 here.

(This post has been updated to reflect the current hours to get tested at the airport)