As coronavirus spreads across the globe, the state and Upper Lynn Canal communities are implementing responses. Some locals are choosing to stay at home to keep the virus from spreading. There are no confirmed cases in Southeast Alaska and the goal here is to keep it that way.
Susan Tandy is staying put at her home in the Haines Senior Village.
“I am fully committed to social distancing—to the extreme,” she said.
Tandy is a retired nurse. She’s a senior with underlying medical conditions. And she said people she cares about are staying away from her because she’s at high risk for coronavirus infection.
“But if the whole town would do this, then when the virus tries to pass from person to person, it will fail and eventually die out,” she said.
Tandy is using the time to call friends in the senior village and catch up on projects around the house.
“I think it’s the only way that we are going to flatten that curve in order to not overwhelm our medical system. And I believe here in the Southeast where we have limited medical care, we need to be especially cognizant of the fact that we can’t get to have too many people getting too sick too fast,” said Tandy, whose grandson is also in a high risk category.
The “curve” Tandy is talking about is the number of people who get sick over time.
“Normally in an epidemic, a rapid epidemic, you will see a spike in cases. And what we want to do is slow that spike,” said Sarah Hargrave, a regional nurse manager for Southeast communities. She said the slower the virus moves, the better medical facilities can respond.
She said that’s more important in rural communities where medical facilities are limited—especially a community like Haines with the state’s oldest population. Her recommendation? Stay home, don’t travel unless you need to, wash your hands, disinfect surfaces, and keep six feet of social distance.
Hargrave said anyone from a remote community who needs critical care will be transferred to a hospital and triaged as usual. And while there are limited tests available at this time, she said care and treatment remain the same whether you are tested or not.
“There’s no cure. There’s no vaccine for COVID 19 right now. So the testing is important, but it doesn’t change the treatment. It’s still going to be stay home if you can. If you can’t, we’ll get you into a hospital,” said Hargrave.
Haines and Skagway boroughs are advising residents to distance themselves socially. Both boroughs ask that residents returning from domestic or international travel voluntarily self-quarantine for two weeks. They ask that only people whose primary residence is in Haines or Skagway return to the communities at this time.
Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium clinics have taken test samples in Southeast communities, including Haines. At SEARHC all tests have come back negative through Tuesday afternoon.
