The Borough Office of Emergency Management provided a recap on the state of testing on the Kenai during a community conversation on Tuesday night. The conversation was held by Dan Nelson, Borough Incident Commander, and Brenda Ahlberg, Information Officer.
Dan Nelson discussed the changes made to testing guidelines. He said that the key to being able to follow the Governor’s mandate to re-open the economy is centered around testing. He referred to the more traditional testing, a nasal swab test that is sent off to a lab. Then, he mentioned the newer tests that are able to get a quicker turnaround time. Right now, the guidelines say that anyone with any symptoms can be tested, but that it is still imperative to get a referral from a physician first.
If you do not have symptoms, you cannot be tested: “We are not at a point where everybody can be tested.” Mr. Nelson said that asymptomatic testing may start once resources are ready, but that “we are not at that point yet.” A similar sentiment came from OEM when discussing antigen testing, saying that Alaska is simply not ready for that yet.
The take-home message was to check with physicians if anyone is feeling symptoms. Also, Dan Nelson reminded residents that OEM is doing all they can to get information out, but they have no direct role in telling any municipality or private business to open or close, as those directives all come from the state.
Dan Nelson: “When we look at things, 355 cases stateside…that’s a tremendous achievement. I’ll, again, remind people that it’s not the time to stop doing these things, things like masks or isolating yourself for 14 days after travelling. Everybody can potentially be a carrier.”
More information can be found by visiting the Borough Office of Emergency Management online.
