Mitkof Island, Southeast Alaska. Population 2500 to 3000 (Seasonal)
How much travel was/is there on and off the island among the people who attended the fundraiser?
Unknown. There are two Alaska Air flights daily. One going North and one going South. Disembarking passengers are supposed to be tested on arrival and quarantined but I am told that a lot of people just bypass the testing at the airport. This is not the tourist season here so it's mostly locals traveling on business. Few travelers.
*How were the cases identified? Were there snitches and then contact-tracing kicked in?
It has not been reported how the cases were discovered. But voluntary testing for asymptomatic locals and mariners had been suspended in December (IIRC). It was resumed last week.
How are the people with cases doing?
Two people have been hospitalized; An elderly woman returning from receiving chemo treatments in Seattle, and her husband as a precaution. Rumor is that everyone is fine. News is scarce.
Is it spreading?
Depends on who you ask. The town is pretty much locked up. I'll know more later today.
So, if I understand you correctly, this past Saturday, the 20th, the fundraiser takes place and that Monday, just two days later, people start testing positive?
The fundraiser was on Sunday at noon. There was a borough assembly meeting on Monday:
From KFSK Petersburg, our local news source At an assembly meeting Monday night local resident Donna Marsh asked the assembly to change directions.
“The coronavirus in all its variations, and it’s been around a long time, is here to stay,” Marsh said. “People will get it. People may die from it and most people survive very well after having acquired it. I would urge the council, the EOC and those who are making decisions for the residents of Petersburg to let life continue. People thrive in having the opportunity to decide for themselves what they want to do, where they will travel, where they will spend their money and the whole bit.”
That same night assembly member Chelsea Tremblay called for a better tone in the community discussion and said everyone was tired of the pandemic.
“But we don’t get to abdicate our responsibilities to this community because we are tired of the weight that they put on us,” Tremblay said. “So we are all very tired of this. I understand people are frustrated and people are getting information from a lot of different places that send them a lot of different directions but overall I just want to thank everybody who’s doing work to keep each other safe and following the steps that we all know by heart by now.”
Don’t mean to sound obsessive, but again, it’s an island, so interesting case study potential here.
Indeed it is an island. That is why I am here. It's the safest place I can think of that offers reasonable convenience and access to essentials while being completely cut off and inaccessible without a boat or an airplane.
Thanks for the explanation. Keep us posted.
So I take it a handful of people are trying to make the connection between the Sunday fundraiser and the Monday case reports but most people are more rational?
Couldn’t the elderly woman have picked up the ‘rona in Seattle?
I have never been to Alaska or known an Alaskan, but my suspicion is that they are more rational than the average American.