No COVID-19 outbreak followed the disaster in Haines

Haines officials had many concerns over the past few weeks: relief workers poured in from around the state to assist with the December 2 landslide disaster. And that led to fears of an outbreak of COVID-19 at the same time , as some 50 households had to  evacuate. So far that hasn’t happened.

In terms of COVID-19 cases… Haines Skagway and Klukwan have been relatively lucky compared to the rest of the state and the nation.. So far, there have been only a handful of symptomatic cases and no fatalities or hospitalizations. 

But when a 200-year storm hit Haines, causing devastating landslides and infrastructure damage, officials feared that could change

“We have a lot of support coming in from outside of our community. Remember, there’s a lot of COVID outside of our community,” said Interim Borough Manager Alekka Fullerton during the emergency–reminding a crowded room full of evacuees and volunteers to be careful in the early days of the emergency.

“So when you see people you don’t know, maybe stay a little further away from them, make sure you have mask on, we really want to keep you guys safe. But we have these overlapping emergencies. So we have to be very vigilant.”

It’s been nearly three weeks since that afternoon. And public health officials now say … so far, so good. 

“We were very fearful that we would be we would be seeing COVID outbreaks,” said Haines Clinic Director Stephanie Pattison. She says the conditions were ripe for the coronavirus to spread through the stricken town.

“Because there was a lot of communal eating with those who were displaced. meetings were packed. So there was social distancing was not able to be followed strictly during this time. Just because of the amount of people who are displaced, and the number of people that you would pack into a small room for a meeting,” she said.

Only three Haines residents have tested positive for the coronavirus since the Dec 2 disaster, according to state data. But according to the Haines Emergency Operations Center, those people have Haines addresses. None are actually in town.