Dr. Anne Zink, Alaska’s Chief Medical Officer, spoke to Alaskans via Facebook on Easter Sunday. She updated residents on the latest COVID-19 numbers, but also issued a challenge to Alaskans to take it upon themselves to react with resiliency to the pandemic.
Dr. Zink: “Each of you, this is your challenge for the next week: find ways that you can think about the world differently. What ways can your respond to this pandemic that makes Alaska strong and resilient? What ways can you help to make face masks for a loved one? What ways can you stand at the grocery store and hand them out so people can be protected? What ways can you think about your business being done differently? We’re all gonna make mistakes. I’ve made mistakes – I will continue to make them and I apologize for each and every one.”
Dr. Zink also mentioned that the sacrifices made by Alaskans throughout the COVID-19 pandemic weigh heavy on her mind, but that the response once restrictions are lifted will be all the more telling: “The sacrifices Alaska has made, for the past few weeks, are monumental and have made a huge difference and will continue to make a difference moving forward. This pandemic isn’t done, and didn’t go away, and it’s going to continue to spread around the world. The reality is very few of us have seen this disease, and it’s going to affect us all in different ways. We’re still learning things every single day, and we really have a choice as Alaskans on what we do about this disease moving forward. We have a choice to be able to allow it to run through our community again once we lift restrictions, or a choice to be able to keep it at bay. That’s really going to depend on Alaskans. It’s going to depend on how patient we are. It’s going to depend on how resilient we are. It’s going to depend on our ability to think about the world in a different and new way.”
She emphasized the idea that Alaskans cannot leave their response solely in the hands of the local or federal government, rather, that they must act together to maximize the strength of the state’s effectiveness in squashing the spread of COVID-19: “All I want is for Alaskans to be healthy and well together, but that’s going to take all of us. It’s not going to be up to the Federal government, it’s not going to be up to the State government. It’s not going to be up to your local, county, or community. It’s going to be all of us pulling the row together and being able to figure this out together. We truly are stronger together, Alaska.”
Dr. Zink also reminded Alaskans that the path forward echoes struggles the state has faced in the past: “Alaskans are incredibly strong. We are able to rebuild after the ground that we stand on shakes with an earthquake and destroys our buildings and our roads. We’re able to be strong and resilient across huge vast landscapes, among hard and challenging conditions. I believe in the next few weeks, it’s going to be up to Alaska to find ways to respond.”
Her message of “think about the world differently” addressed the questions Alaskans must ask themselves: “What ways can we grow our own food and have it delivered? What ways can we be able to make sure that those who are more vulnerable are cared for? What ways can we have our business work online or by delivery, instead of in-person? The reality is after every pandemic, every war, every major challenge for our society and our infrastructure, we can either decide on how we respond to it like we did with World War II where we figured out how to build new gear, how we were able to mobilize an entire economy to respond to the challenge. Or, we can let it destroy us. We can let it pick us apart and find ways to fight among each other.”
