COVID update 3: First Alaska case identified

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THE FIRST CASE IN ALASKA IS A CARGO PILOT

The first case of COVID-19 coronavirus has come to Alaska . Gov. Mike Dunleavy, and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anne Zink announced the news today at a 5 pm press conference.

“This is no surprise, it’s not extraordinary,” said Gov. Dunleavy. “It was just a matter of time. We feel good about the protocols we have in place,” he said, saying that protocols will be continually reassessed.

“There is no reason to panic, no reason to get upset,” Dunleavy said.

The case was identified at Alaska Regional Hospital.

It was a foreign national individual, a male who is transiting through Alaska. He knew about the virus, he was monitoring himself, and as soon as he developed symptoms, he called ahead, was assessed, and tested in Alaska. The patient self isolated in an appropriate manner, Zink said.

“This is an isolated case we think we can contain,” Zink said, saying it is different from community transmission.

The person has not been wandering through the community, but Zink would not say where the person came from or through which countries. The person did travel to Alaska through the Ted Stevens International Airport in the past 48 hours. The person is an adult, but Zink would not say more about where this person may have been or what hotel the person may have been at.

Updated: Must Read Alaska has learned that it was a cargo pilot or crew and that he knew he was symptomatic when he landed. The Governor’s Office has confirmed that the person was on a cargo flight that was owned by a private company. This means the exposure to the general community at large was greatly reduced.

The person has been released from Alaska Regional Hospital and placed in a quarantined housing situation that Zink said would remain private.

Elsewhere in aviation, an American Airlines pilot who is based in Dallas-Fort Worth, has been diagnosed with the virus and is being treated. American Airlines has about 15,000 pilots; this may be the first case of a commercial airline pilot becoming infected.

This story is being updated, so check back…

11 COMMENTS

  1. Good stuff. Pilot did the right thing, government did the right thing, and hopefully Alaskans will do the right thing and keep a cool head about it.

  2. Alaska has a grown up for a governor and that is going to yield huge benefits in how are state will be able to combat this threat. It’s sobering to think how this would go, were there partisan hacks at the wheel..

  3. Who would have guessed that a panic run on TP, and the cancellation of live sports would usher in the Apocalypse?

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