COVID cases rise to 117 in the region
By Peter Loewi
The Omicron variant appeared to have stopped spreading almost as quickly as it started, with active cases down 76 percent from their January 28 peak, but then rose again slightly through Tuesday.
It isn’t clear if Iron Dog impacted the situation, and all participants of the ongoing Arctic Eagle exercise were required to test negative less than 72 hours prior to departure, but the local recommendation is to keep masks on until the end of the Iditarod.
There are currently 117 active cases in the region: 78 in Nome, eight in Unalakleet, seven in both Koyuk and Savoonga, five in Shishmaref, four in Brevig, three in both Shaktoolik and Stebbins, and one in both Golovin and White Mountain.
Nome City Manager Glenn Steckman said that “since we’re going to be seeing hundreds of people coming to Nome, we are still exercising caution. The city is still recommending wearing face masks when in public indoor spaces. Last week our active case count was 22, today [Monday] it’s 51.”
Dr. Mark Peterson, medical director at the Norton Sound Health Corporation, said that Monday’s numbers, with cases in 10 villages, was the smallest number of villages with COVID for a long time.
While he doesn’t expect a big surge, he said there were no big changes planned through the end of March, and that “we should try to stay steady through the Iditarod and the Lonnie O’Connor Iditarod Basketball Classic.”
The week in numbers
On Tuesday, Feb. 22, Norton Sound Health Corporation identified 56 new COVID-19 cases in the region. There were nine in Savoonga, nine in Shaktoolik, seven in Nome, seven in Stebbins, six in Koyuk, five in Brevig Mission, five in Gambell, four in Unalakleet, and two each in Golovin and Teller.
This made for 92 active cases in the region: 22 in Nome, 11 in Savoonga, 10 in Stebbins, eight in Gambell, eight in Shaktoolik, seven in Golovin, six in Brevig, six in Koyuk, five in Unalakleet, three in White Mountain, and two each in Diomede, St. Michael and Teller.
On Tuesday, Feb. 23, NSHC identified 45 new COVID-19 cases in the region: 10 were in Shaktoolik, eight in Koyuk, eight in Nome, seven in Brevig Mission, five in Unalakleet, four in Savoonga and one each in Diomede, St. Michael and Stebbins.
This brought the number of active cases in the region to 98: 23 in Nome, 13 in Savoonga, 12 in Koyuk, 11 in Shaktoolik, nine in Brevig, nine in Stebbins, seven in Unalakleet, five in Gambell, three in White Mountain, two in Golovin, two in Teller and one each in Diomede and St. Michael.
On Thursday Feb. 24, NSHC identified 11 new cases. Three each in Koyuk and Savoonga, two each in Gambell and Nome, and one in Shishmaref.
Active cases in the region remained around the same level, at 96: 20 were in Nome, 16 in Savoonga, 13 in Koyuk, 10 in Shaktoolik, nine in both Brevig and Stebbins, six in both Gambell and Unalakleet, two in both Golovin and Teller, and one in each Diomede, St. Michael and Shishmaref.
Over the weekend between Friday, Feb. 25 and Sunday, Feb. 27, NSHC identified 68 new cases of COVID-19. There were 41 new cases in Nome, six in both Shaktoolik and Shishmaref, four in Koyuk, three in each Stebbins, Savoonga and Unalakleet, and one in both Brevig and White Mountain.
There were 98 active cases in the region: 51 in Nome, 12 in Koyuk, 10 in Savoonga, seven in Shishmaref, four in both Unalakleet and Shaktoolik, three in both Brevig and Stebbins, two in Gambell, and one in both Diomede and White Mountain.
On Monday, Feb. 28, NSHC identified 49 new COVID-19 cases in the region: 34 in Nome, five in Unalakleet, three in Koyuk, two in both Savoonga and Shishmaref, and one in each Brevig, Golovin and Shaktoolik.
Mask updates
On Friday, Feb. 25, the Center for Disease Control updated their guidance on masking, as case counts have gone down across the country. Residents in areas of “low” and “medium” risk can go without masks indoors, but caution is still advised. Those with symptoms should wear a mask and get tested. While all COVID tests are to be trusted if they show a positive result, the frequency of false negative results is higher in at-home tests than in lab tests. Dr. Peterson advised that if you have symptoms, you should assume you have it, and act accordingly, including testing and isolation.
The CDC’s guidance is based on three things: rates of new cases, new hospital admissions and hospital capacity. Some experts say it isn’t the best tool for determining ones’ individual safety. Speak with your doctor to determine if you are at high risk of severe illness and if whether or not you should keep wearing a mask.
This isn’t the first time that the CDC has changed their masking guidance. In May of 2021, after the first big wave of vaccinations, the CDC said that fully vaccinated people didn’t need to wear masks anymore. That guidance was again revised two months later, after it became clear that even fully vaccinated people can spread the Delta variant which was dominant at the time.
As of Tuesday, March 1, 2022, the U.S. had seen 79,045,043 COVID-19 cases and 950,490 deaths.
In Alaska, there were 231,645 reported cases, 3,623 hospitalization and 1,130 deaths. There are currently 91 people in the hospital because of COVID-19.
In the Nome, Bering Strait and Norton Sound region there were at least 5,118 cases, 42 hospitalizations and five deaths.