Regional COVID cases spiked to 407
COVID cases continued to climb this week, as the highly transmissible Omicron variant is spreading rapidly through the region. On Friday, Norton Sound Health Corporation announced 407 active cases in 14 of the 15 village communities. White Mountain was the lone community without an active COVID case.
“That’s the first time we’ve had that,” said Norton Sound Health Corporation’s Medical Director Dr. Mark Peterson. “Omicron is really everywhere.”
Over the weekend, there were 170 new cases reported, but as usual, there is less testing over the weekends, reminded Dr. Peterson, during the weekly COVID tribal leaders call. He added: “We expect the numbers to go back up.”
Cases remain high in the region, and it will take time to see if they start trending downwards, as some other parts of the country are seeing.
In addition to COVID-19 Omicron cases, he said, they are seeing more cases of respiratory syncytial virus, RSV for short, which can make children very sick. The public health measures – masks, hand washing, and social distancing – are effective here, too.
In Nome, the City issued an Emergency Order extending the duration of the indoor mask requirement until February 21.
Nome City Manager Glenn Steckman explained that effective Friday, January 28, anyone can pick up free COVID test kits at the Nome Rec Center, limited to two per family and while supplies last. This is in addition to the testing which NSHC does, and the tests which the Chamber of Commerce has passed out to members.
The City is also providing free KN95 masks, surgical masks and masks for children, which can be picked up at the Rec Center, the Post
Office, and City Hall.
On Tuesday, January 25, Norton Sound Health Corporation identified 97 cases. Of those, 30 cases were in Nome, 18 in Elim, 13 in both Gambell and Shishmaref, five in Teller, five in Unalakleet, three in Koyuk, two in both Brevig and Shaktoolik, and one in both St. Michael and Savoonga. This meant that there were 330 active cases in the region, in Nome and twelve of the villages.
The next day, NSHC identified 105 more cases. Of the new cases, there were 23 cases in Gambell, 21 in Nome, 13 in Shishmaref, 10 in Teller, nine in Unalakleet, seven in both Brevig and Elim, five in both Koyuk and Savoonga, two in both Diomede and Golovin, and one in Shaktoolik. This brought the number of active cases to 374, in Nome and thirteen communities.
Thursday, January 27 saw 99 new cases identified. 25 were in Gambell, 20 in Nome, 13 in Shishmaref, eight in Savoonga, eight in Brevig Mission, seven in Teller, five in Elim, five in Unalakleet, four in Wales, two in Koyuk, and two in St. Michael.
Over the weekend from Friday through Sunday, Jan. 28 to 30, Norton Sound Health Corporation identified 170 new COVID-19 cases in the region. Of the new cases, there were 39 in Nome, 29 in Elim, 22 in Savoonga, 17 in Shishmaref, 17 in Brevig, 15 in Gambell, 10 in Unalakleet, 11 in Teller, seven in Stebbins, and three in St. Michael. Because of the reduced time period for being considered an active case with the Omicron variant, this meant that 279 cases were active in Nome and 13 of the villages.
On Monday, Jan. 31, Norton Sound Health Corporation identified 106 new COVID-19 cases in the region. Of the new cases, there were 33 in Unalakleet, 22 in Nome, 14 in Teller, 10 in Shaktoolik, seven in Shishmaref, six in both Elim and Koyuk, two in Brevig, and one in each Diomede, Gambell, St. Michael, Savoonga, Stebbins and Wales.
As of press time on Tuesday, there are 289 active cases in the region: 68 in Nome, 40 in Unalakleet, 39 in Gambell, 31 in Savoonga, 28 in Elim, 20 in Shishmaref, 19 in Teller, 12 in Brevig, 11 in Shaktoolik, six in Koyuk, five in Stebbins, five in Wales, four in St. Michael and one in Diomede.
On January 26, Governor Mike Dunleavy joined Texas Governor Greg Abbott in a lawsuit against President Joe Biden, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, and other defense officials. The lawsuit is an attempt to prevent a COVID vaccine mandate for national guard members. As previously reported in the Nugget, the Alaska National Guard, among others, will be participating in a training exercise, Arctic Eagle/Patriot 2022, in Nome from around February 25 to March 6, 2022. During a presentation to the community, a planner for the exercise said that they anticipated the vaccination rate would be “very high,” but wouldn’t know the exact number until the exercise roster was finalized. In an email to the Nugget, planner Amy Schwalber said they “expect to the have that information around the 15th of February.”
On January 31, 2022, the Food and Drug Administration issued full approval for Moderna’s COVID vaccine, now called Spikevax, for people ages 18 and older, saying “Spikevax meets the FDA’s rigorous standards for safety, effectiveness and manufacturing quality required for approval.” After the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, Comirnaty, this is the second vaccine against the virus SARS-CoV-2 to earn full approval from the FDA.
Since the pandemic began, the U.S. had 74,941,202 reported COVID cases and 886,682 deaths.
In Alaska, there were 209,564 reported cases and 1,052 deaths.
In Nome, the Bering Strait and Norton Sound region, there were at least 3,869 cases, 37 hospitalizations and three deaths.