Kenai Peninsula Borough Emergency Manager Dan Nelson addressed the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly during their Tuesday meeting. He updated the assembly about the state of the COVID-19 as the pandemic evolves.
Nelson said that the Borough’s response was strong as the emergency started, and has continued to be strong. He said that the system used nationwide put certain powers in the Borough’s hands: such as Personal Protective Equipment, testing supplies, and other scarce resources, noting that it is not as vital now as it was, but that the Borough is still responding in a big way.
He also pointed out that the Office of Emergency Management is doing their best to keep the public aware of what’s going on, holding meetings twice a week and via their KPB Alerts platform.
Nelson also emphasized the importance of programs funded by CARES to aid in mitigation: “We’re shifting now, and have been shifting for the last several months, into kind of a hybrid where we’re responding, but we’re also taking some mitigation action. The CARES funding that this body has worked to help us improve, and improve those plans for, is a very, very important of that. Many of those programs are things like our sanitation, being able to increase disinfecting and air purification, and other things that go into the building. HVAC systems to the Assembly Chambers is a great example, retrofitting that so we’re able to have both in-person and virtual participation. Back-ups to our 911 center. All of those mitigation things, as what are part of the New Normal, that’s been part of the mitigation strategies.”
According to Nelson, the Office of Emergency Management is working on strategies for vaccine distribution, when one becomes available, as well as other aspects of mitigation as the pandemic continues to progress.
When it comes to numbers, Nelson says things are looking promising: “As of today, this morning, we didn’t have anyone in our hospitals throughout the Kenai Peninsula Borough that was a positive COVID-19 case, or one that is suspected, and that’s certainly something to celebrate. We’ve seen some of our numbers flatten out a bit as we’ve looked at our case counts from the last few days. We did have, especially in the Central Peninsula, some high days of 12 or 15, now we’re at two and three. That’s a great thing that we definitely want to keep, and we want the public to help us engage in doing those types of things.”
He summarized by reminding residents of the Kenai Peninsula to continue their own efforts for mitigation, such as hygiene, and pledged that the Office of Emergency Management will do their part to bring accurate information to everyone.