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Doctors without orders: Some don’t support the government mandates

Several Alaska medical doctors have reached out to Must Read Alaska with grave concerns about the long-range effects of the national, state, and municipal COVID-19 health mandates. They were responding to a column linked at the bottom of this story.

The doctors who responded said they are concerned about the health of their patients, the health impacts of the generational poverty that current policies are creating, and the very civil liberties of Americans.

But they can’t speak out, because the State can take retaliatory measures against them and their license to practice in the state. Must Read Alaska obtained permission to quote them anonymously.

“This is the largest abuse of power I have ever witnessed in my lifetime,” wrote one Anchorage physician, expressing the sentiments of others in his practice. “And I believe the largest ever in our modern history. Emergency health and safety powers have never been used so broadly or for so long. How dare my government order me not to work indefinitely, or order me not to associate with others out of fear of something I may never have. Many are beginning to talk of class action suits and legal challenges. I pray they go forward.”

“We are destroying our state and our nation for generations. The federal government is focused on propping up the stock market with trillions in fake money, money that didn’t even exist yesterday,” that physician wrote.

Another doctor wrote to Must Read Alaska that breast cancer patients are staying away from needed appointments, and that there could be grave consequences months from now, as Stage 1 cancers become Stage 2 or higher:

 “I do a lot of breast cancer surgery, and patients aren’t even coming to my office because they believe they won’t even be considered for surgery, and they’re in fear of getting the virus because of the media generated hysteria.  I also have had conversations with some of my internal medicine colleagues who’s patients have presented to the ED with advanced complicated disease because they have been in fear of leaving their homes to seek care for their diabetes and other chronic illnesses.  Hospitals are closing, healthcare providers are being laid off or furloughed, nurses are in tears because their hours are being cut.  Private practice physicians are going out of business.  My hospital is only 30% full,” the doctor wrote.

Still another physician wrote that although the coronavirus is serious, it likely has a mortality rate of under 1 percent, and the current mandates prevent herd immunity.

“The vast majority of people who get this will survive, and may even have minimal to no symptoms.  We are hundreds of physicians who, although we have been team players contributing to COVID readiness, adamantly disagree with the current governmental mitigation strategy,” the doctor wrote.

“This strategy is based on the most flawed and false data and prediction models. These projections have changed on a daily basis, and before you say, “well, that’s because social distancing works,” we will remind you that the models touted by experts like Dr. Fauci 1-2 weeks ago suggesting the US would have over a million deaths with strict social distancing were absurd overestimates.  Then the experts told us we would suffer 100,000-200,000 deaths from this, and now they say it will probably be around 60,000,” one doctor wrote.

“In fact, the longer term mortality rate that accompanies poverty and despair will be much higher.  For every one percent increase in unemployment, there is a mortality rate of 10,000.  With this new found government imposed poverty comes higher rates of suicide, domestic and child abuse, suicide, and general poor health and lack of health maintenance.” – Anchorage physician. 

“There’s also the psychological effects of a hard working person being told you are a non essential worker, and the only thing you can contribute to this crisis, is to stay at home…how demoralizing.  Individuals can and will find ways of keeping their businesses going while protecting the public without a distant government telling them how to.  You have robbed them of their ability to do so with these mandates,” the doctor wrote.

While this is just a handful of comments, it’s evident that not all doctors are aligned with the state health mandates that prevent them from practicing medicine during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The opinion column that prompted the responses is linked here:

COVID Update: 11 new cases

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Eleven new cases of COVID-19 were diagnosed in the past 24 hours in Alaska, with no new deaths reported and one additional hospitalization noted.

The current statewide infection count is 246 cases, including the seven deaths already reported and the 55 who have now been declared recovered.

The new cases were diagnosed in Anchorage (3), Fairbanks (4), Kenai Peninsula (1), Juneau (1), and Mat-Su (2).

A little more than one percent of Alaskans have been tested for the Wuhan coronavirus, with 7,432 swab tests administered since the first Alaska case was diagnosed in early March.

Nationwide, 91,358 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed, with 18,316 deaths associated with the coronavirus. Across the globe, more than 102,000 people have died with complications from the coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan, China late last year and is of unknown origins.

Church gets OK to celebrate Easter — in parking lot

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A 26-foot screen. Parking spaces carefully marked off in 6-foot lengths.

The Anchorage Baptist Temple is ready for Easter services and will welcome hundreds of worshipers to its vast parking lot at the ABT campus on East Northern Lights Blvd in Anchorage. The State of Alaska has sanctioned such services that follow strict social distancing guidelines, and ABT, one of the largest churches in Anchorage, has the resources to pull it off, while smaller storefront and mission churches are struggling to find an appropriate way to have services that don’t violate the law.

The ABT lot has room for about 175 cars for each of the three services on Sunday to accommodate what is expected to be a strong response from members of the church and those in the surrounding communities.

But you’ll need to go online to reserve your parking spot, because space is limited.

ABT will ask people to remain in their cars, and the sound will be broadcast on the ABT’s radio channel, 102.7, which they can pick up on their car radio or their mobile device.

Later on Sunday, the church will use the parking lot for a screening of the “Son of God” movie at 6pm. Information is available at www.abt.church/movies.

Rep. Johnston apologized for saying what she believes

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By DAN FAGAN

Anchorage Rep. Jennifer Johnston apologized. So what? What else could she do? Double down on her position that rural Alaskans can’t handle two stimulus checks at once? 

Johnston told Alaska Journal of Commerce managing editor Andrew Jensen, that House leadership, of which she’s a member, decided to delay issuing Alaskans a dividend check in the spring because it would come at the same time as a $1,200 federal check. 

“Have you ever been to the villages at dividend time?” Johnston asked Jensen, trying to convince the reporter rural Alaskans don’t spend money wisely.

[Read: Co-chair of Finance doesn’t trust rural Alaskans with spring check]

Johnston also told Jensen “social services would be overwhelmed” in villages if they got two checks at once. Johnston never denied what Jensen reported. 

For Johnston and her fellow House leadership team to deny Alaskans a $1,000 spring check because they don’t trust the very people they’re elected to serve confirms our worst fears about politicians. There’s never been a time in state history, with thousands out of work, when that check is more desperately needed. What a betrayal.  

It took a couple of days for the media to finally report the story. If Gov. Michael J. Dunleavy had said such a thing the Anchorage Daily News would have printed so many stories and columns on it, they would have ended up destroying three forests. 

Even though the media finally reported the story, they still haven’t asked the big question. Was Johnston telling the truth? Did House leadership really decide to withhold a spring dividend check from all Alaskans because they don’t trust villagers?

It seems easy to find out. Ask House Speaker Bryce Edgmon. Ask other members of House leadership. Of course, they’ll throw Johnston under the bus and deny it. But the media should do its job and put everyone on record on the issue. After all, it impacts so many Alaskans.   

Johnston also told Jensen Alaska’s Congressional delegation lobbied the legislature to withhold a spring dividend because villagers can’t responsibly handle two checks at once.

[Read: Johnston apologizes for hurtful statements about rural Alaskans]

Jensen asked Rep. Don Young, and Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan about Johnston’s claim. All three said neither they nor any member of their staff did such a thing. It’s hard to say who’s being truthful. This we do know. Somebody’s lying.  

Occasionally a politician gets caught telling the truth. Like when former President Barack Obama was recorded at a private fundraiser criticizing middle Americans for being bitter and clinging to their guns and religion.

We know most currently serving in the Alaska legislature don’t trust their constituents and view their jobs as protecting us from ourselves. Johnston simply got caught saying what most of her colleagues believe.

But the fact she singled out rural Alaskans as untrustworthy makes her admission even more telling. 

Dan Fagan hosts a radio show on AM650, KENI, weekdays mornings from 5:30 to 8. Email Dan at[email protected]

Federal disaster declared for COVID for Alaska

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Alaska has received a federal disaster declaration from President Donald Trump to help with funding for State, tribal, and local recovery efforts in all areas of the state impacted by the COVID-19 coronavirus.

Michael F. O’Hare, former director of the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and now the Region 10 director for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, has been named the federal coordinating officer for federal recovery operations in the Alaska.

Typically, disaster declarations lead to the release of:

  • Individual Assistance – Assistance to individuals and households;
  • Public Assistance – Assistance to state and local governments and certain privatenonprofit organizations for emergency work and the repair or replacement of disaster-damaged facilities; and
  • Hazard Mitigation Assistance – Assistance to state and local governments and certainprivate nonprofit organizations for actions taken to prevent or reduce long term risk to life and property from natural hazards.

It’s not clear how these three categories will apply to the economic disaster created by the pandemic, or if new categories will be created.

Additional disaster designations, such as a “major disaster declaration,” or n economic disaster for commercial fisheries, may be made at a later date if requested by the State.

When do we declare victory and restore our lives?

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One thing Alaskans want to know from the governor is how long. Is it 30 days? Is it two more weeks? Is it August?

As Alaskans grapple with their deeply diminished lives in this Year of COVID-19, they’ve done their part to flatten the curve. Fewer than 250 known cases of the Wuhan coronavirus have been diagnosed, and seven deaths are reported in Alaska to date. Across the state, 27 have been hospitalized for serious effects from the coronavirus.

It is a serious illness for some, to be sure, but many Alaskans suspect that they’ve had the coronavirus themselves, had not been diagnosed, and were only mildly impacted — a sniffly nose, a dry cough. The death rate is being bent downward as medical professionals learn more about the disease and as the public practices social distancing.

And yet in a few short weeks, from March 12 until April 9, our state economy is in shambles. Record numbers of Alaskans have filed for unemployment benefits, many more cannot pay for their health insurance any longer. It appears the economic consequences will be long-reaching.

It’s worse than just not having a job or health insurance:

People cannot get even medical care for urgent problems, too numerous to list here, but including serious conditions that keep them from living their best lives:

Case: A reader of MRAK has a cancerous cyst and a history of cancer of the same type. His doctor tells him he must wait 72 days to have the surgical procedure to remove this cyst. He is worried, rightfully so, because he has children at home.

Case: A woman with a prolapsed pelvic floor cannot have it repaired. Her organs are literally falling out of her. She uses a prosthesis to keep them in.

Case: A child with serious eye condition may become blind in one eye because the ophthalmologists are closed.

Case: A woman has compressed nerves coming out of her spine and is in agony, but cannot get surgery. Her doctors are giving her nerve blocks to help, but they only do so much.

Case: Women are delaying their mammograms because many mammography centers are closed; others will not perform mammograms for women over 50.

Case: Alaska Urological Institute has filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 bankruptcy rules.

Case: MRAK has learned there are medical practices on the Kenai Peninsula on the verge of closing, and yet the hospital beds on the Kenai are empty, waiting for COVID-19 patients.

Case: Nurses are being sent home without pay. They aren’t being furloughed, so they can’t apply for unemployment, but they can’t work either.

Case: A business owner whose tourism business has closed for the year cancelled his health insurance because federal money is not coming fast enough to help him. He’ll have to do without for the rest of the year.

The stories are pouring into Must Read Alaska every day, and they all are individual tragedies.

Alaskans are ready to go back to work, and it’s time for the Administration to open the economy back up — with fewer mandates and more advisories. The governor can advise that people wear cloth masks, wash their hands, avoid shaking hands this year, and try to get distance from others. He can recommend that people not gather in groups larger than 10 or 20, and that families take precautions when going about their lives.

But if we don’t get our economy back on its feet, there are real health consequences that will be felt. There will be divorces, suicides, sicknesses treated too late, domestic violence, and bankruptcies. The health impacts could be far greater than the deaths from COVID-19 in Alaska.

At the very least, Alaskans need to know how much is enough for them to sacrifice. Is it when Alaska has zero cases per day? Are 25 cases a day too many?

The lives Alaskans are now leading, at least in the major commercial centers, is no way to live for an extended period of time. Patience is wearing thin for a shutdown of society that is both open-ended and that appears to be picking winners and losers in the marketplace.

By April 11, Gov. Mike Dunleavy will have to decide if the state is still in a state of emergency. Will he extend the declaration? How long and what parts of his mandates can be relaxed?

These are not rhetorical questions. The private sector cannot take much more.

COVID update: 9 new cases, no new deaths

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Alaska had nine new cases of COVID-19 diagnosed in the past 24 hours, bringing the case total to 235 across the state.

The total number of people hospitalized during the pandemic is 27, although not all of those are currently in the hospital, and no new deaths were reported during the past 24 hours.

Seven Alaskans are known to have died of causes related to the coronavirus that developed out of Wuhan, China last year.

The new cases were in Anchorage (4), Fairbanks (2), Kenai Peninsula (1), and Mat-Su (1).

Nationally, 452,582 people have been infected with the coronavirus, and 16,129 deaths have been attributed to or associated with COVID-19.

Mike Cronk of Tok launches campaign for House Dist. 6

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Retired middle school teacher Mike Cronk has filed to run for House District 6 to replace Rep. Dave Talerico, who has chosen to not run for reelection after serving three terms.

A registered Republican, Cronk was raised in the district in the small town of Northway, where he became well known in the region as a high school basketball star and was named all-schools “player of the year” before the designation was divided by school sizes in Alaska.

Cronk attended University of Alaska Fairbanks and returned to teach in Northway, before becoming a middle school teacher in Tok.

If his name seems familiar to readers outside the sprawling district, it’s because the year 2017 turned out to be a fateful year for Cronk. He and friends attended the Route 91 Harvest festival in Las Vegas when his friend Rob McIntosh was shot in the chest during the mass shooting that killed 59 people. Cronk held his fingers on the bullet holes, dragged his friend to safety, put him in the back of a pickup truck with other wounded people, and eventually flagged down an ambulance. In the chaos that followed, another wounded concert-goer died in his arms on the way to the hospital.

Read Mike Cronk’s essay about that day at USA Today.

Cronk serves on the Alaska Gateway School District School Board, and is well known across the district for his basketball talent — both for his high school and college skill and his involvement in adult leagues — and also because he has refereed games throughout the district.

“Mike and I have communicated closely over the last year,” Talerico said. “He is a solid person who really understands and relates to people of all ages in our District. His active Alaska lifestyle of hunting, fishing and trapping, along with his strong sense of honesty and his lack of political gobbledygook is really refreshing.”

“Dave has done an incredible job for our District. Now that he has decided to retire I’m motivated me to file for his House Seat,” Cronk said of the representative from Healy.

Cronk is a fiscal conservative who understands that next year’s budget will be the most challenging yet. As a longtime teacher of math and science, he has been a servant of the people for 25 years, and has thick skin from teaching and being on the school board.

“I’ve been through a lot and I believe I can make a difference. We need to be able to unite people and work together,” he said.

As a lifelong hunter, Cronk is attuned to the subsistence way of life in District 6. “Subsistence is the tie that binds us in our District. It is about putting food on our tables and passing on to our children the blessings of wild harvest and wise management of our natural resources,” he said.

Cronk knows the district well, having spent time in nearly every village and town in the sprawling interior region that reaches Arctic Village, Venetie, and Anderson, wrapping around Fairbanks.

Earlier this week, Elijah Verhagen, a former Republican, filed to run as an undeclared candidate for the seat, which means he will skip the primary and go directly to the general election ballot.

Ferry system suspends service to Prince Rupert

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The Alaska Marine Highway System service to Prince Rupert, British Columbia is cancelled until further notice, the AMHS reported today.

COVID-19 coronavirus-related travel restrictions delayed work to bring the Prince Rupert Terminal into compliance with federal regulations. All passengers are being notified and rebooked or refunded as necessary.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection was scheduled to meet with Alaska state officials this month at Prince Rupert to review and approve Alaska’s ferry terminal facility modifications, required to conduct international operations. Alaska’s ferry system must fully comply with the security operations stipulated within the Land, Rail, Marine, and Air Transport Preclearance Agreement signed by the U.S. and Canada.

But with current travel restrictions, the April meeting cannot take place as planned. Alaska and Canadian officials will meet as soon as possible after travel restrictions are lifted, according to a press release from the Alaska Marine Highway System.

AMHS extended its policy waiving cancellation fees for any reservation until May 11, 2020. To cancel or make changes to an itinerary contact the AMHS reservation call center at 1-800- 642-0066 or call your local AMHS terminal.f

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