Although the seven- and 14-day COVID-19 case acquisition indicators are in the high range, city leaders sounded upbeat at Tuesday’s weekly community briefing.
“Our risk level remains at moderate. We continue to get a few more positive cases than we like. But all other indicators look good. It feels like a stable situation in Juneau,” said Rorie Watt, City and Borough of Juneau city manager.
Overall, Juneau’s seven-day rolling positivity rate was 1.22% as of Tuesday. The community risk level was lowered from high to moderate two weeks ago.
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Watt noted that students are returning to school and the Legislature is now meeting in town, so vigilance remains essential.
“COVID is still out there. We aren’t out of the woods. We need to hold the risk down and avoid complacency,” he said.
Deputy City Manager Mila Cosgrove, who is also the emergency operations center incident commander, said that testing continues through the city and private providers, with results turned around quickly.
“Even if you have the slightest ailment, call the hotline and they will slot you in,” she said.
The CBJ COVID-19 hotline number is 586-6000.
City officials urged diligence around mask-wearing, hand washing and staying home at the first sign of symptoms.
“The end is in sight, but it’s not quite here. Recognize that it’s a stressful time for your friends and neighbors,” Cosgrove said.
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Vaccines are rolling out
According to Robert Barr, planning chief for the city’s emergency operations center, CBJ learned late Tuesday afternoon that the February vaccine allocation will include a tray of Phizer vaccine doses and 500 Moderna doses. The Phizer tray includes 975 official doses that can be stretched to about 1,100 doses.
“It’s a little lower number than we had hoped. We have the capacity to administer more than that,” Barr said. He added that more information about the next vaccine clinic will be available later this week.
Cosgrove said that once the February vaccines are distributed, 22% of Juneau’s vaccine-eligible population will be vaccinated.
• Contact Dana Zigmund at dana.zigmund@juneauempire.com or 907-308-4891.
