Region has 155 active COVID-19 cases

By Julia Lerner
The Norton Sound Health Corporation has identified more than 100 COVID-19 cases across the region in the last week, and new infections statewide surged over the weekend with more 1,089 new cases reported on Monday.
On Tuesday, November 9, NSHC identified 32 new cases, including 19 in Savoonga, 12 in Nome, and one in White Mountain.
The following day, 25 people tested positive, including 10 in Nome, seven in Savoonga, three in Brevig, three in Shishmaref, one in Unalakleet, and one in White Mountain.
On Thursday, 14 individuals tested positive, including seven in Savoonga, six in Nome, and one in Gambell.
Between Friday and Sunday, NSHC identified 38 cases. On Friday, 24 people tested positive, including 16 in Nome, four in Brevig Mission, two in Savoonga, one in Gambell, and one in Wales. All 14 cases discovered on Saturday and Sunday were in Nome.
As of Monday evening, there are 155 active cases in the region, a drop from last week, when there were more than 200 active cases. Though cases in the region are beginning to fall, active numbers in Nome remain steady.
“[Cases] are still hovering in the 80s range,” NSHC medical director Dr. Mark Peterson told the Nugget. “They haven’t dropped off completely, and I’ll tell you the reason is because the largest number of unvaccinated people in our region are in Nome. Those are the people who are at risk. … That’s why cases are kind of hanging on.”
Peterson says he hopes cases in Nome will begin to fall soon, but it may take some time due to the relative size of the community.
“I think they will slowly drop; it’s just going to take longer than in the other communities because [Nome] is larger,” he said.
Cases are slowly falling across the state, too. While Alaska consistently ranked first in new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents throughout the fall, the state fell to ranking fourth this week. Throughout the last several months, the state averaged between 600 and 900 new COVID-19 cases each day, but on Monday, November 15, the state’s average was just 433 per day, a 34 percent decrease in the last two weeks.  
NSHC continues to administer COVID-19 tests at the hospital pharmacy in Nome, at village clinics around the region, and at Nome’s airport.
“The COVID-19 tests are highly accurate,” Peterson told the Nugget. “The Cobas test that we have, made by Roche, is a PCR test, the most accurate in the country. False negative tests are very rare.” The acronym PCR stands for “polymerase chain reaction” test. The COVID-19 PCR test is a molecular test that analyzes nose swabs, looking for genetic material (ribonucleic acid or RNA) of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
Peterson says the Cobas tests administered by NSHC are some of the most accurate tests available but has concerns about at-home antigen test kits available.
“Antigen testing are these quick cards that you could do at home, [or] school systems will sometimes buy them and have them,” he said. “We don’t use antigen testing. It’s not as accurate, and has a fair number of false negative tests, meaning people who have COVID, it doesn’t show up.”
The medical director stressed the importance of masking, washing hands and getting vaccinated, if eligible.
Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine was made available for children ages 5-11 earlier in November and has been administered to over a hundred children in the region.
Since receiving childhood vaccine supplies last week, Elim has administered 32 first doses to the 5–11-year-old age group, inoculating 54 percent of village children in the age range. Golovin, too, vaccinated a large percentage of the 5–11-year-old children. The village inoculated 41 percent of 5–11-year-olds in the village, administering seven first doses.  Gambell administered 30 doses, covering 36 percent of their 5–11-year-olds. Diomede administered four doses, inoculating 33 percent of children ages 5-11 in the village. Shaktoolik and Unalakleet both vaccinated 30 percent of their childhood population, administering 11 and 33 vaccines, respectively. Shishmaref administered 25, covering 27 percent of their 5–11-year-old community. Nome has administered 107 first doses.
Though Nome has administered the most childhood vaccinations the community has the lowest rate of inoculation amongst 5–11-year-olds, with only 19 percent of the population vaccinated.
Peterson stressed the importance of childhood vaccination.
“Kids don’t really get severely ill from COVID, but they can pass it on to those who do,” he explained. “These vaccines are very safe. Children take many different vaccines, and adults have taken many different vaccines over their life that were required for diseases much less disabling than COVID.”
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, misinformation about the virus, the vaccines and alternative cures has spun wildly across social media and Nomeites are not immune to it.
“We don’t want for there to be misinformation about vaccines misleading people,” Peterson told the Nugget. “The biggest concern that I have is parents and grandparents being misled by information on social media about the vaccines, but [the vaccines] are highly effective.”
Across Alaska, there have been a total of 146,247 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began, including 2,594 in the last week. In the state, there have been 3,167 hospitalizations, with 146 currently hospitalized and 19 on ventilators. Around the state, 26 ICU beds remain available. In Alaska, 833 people have died of COVID-19 since the pandemic began in March, 2020.
In Nome, Norton Sound, and the Bering Strait region, there have been 1,865 cases of COVID-19, 21 hospitalizations and two deaths.