The required two-week quarantine for people arriving in Alaska will remain in place, Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced Friday.
Dunleavy’s quarantine mandate has been credited with helping to keep Alaska’s COVID-19 case count the lowest of any state, and it was set to expire Tuesday. Alaska Department of Health and Social Services Commissioner Adam Crum said the mandate would be extended through June 2 during a press conference Friday evening.
The required quarantine has posed a challenge to tourism businesses in particular, who say it’s unlikely that visitors will pay to spend two weeks in a hotel in Alaska before starting their vacations.
Complying with the mandate has also cost millions of dollars for businesses in oil and gas and fishing that rely on seasonal workers, who have been housed in hotels before flying to jobs on the North Slope and at seafood processing plants.
But representatives from each of those industries say they have not been lobbying officials to overturn the mandate, acknowledging the decision is best left to public health officials.
