With 6 new COVID-19 cases in 1 day, Angoon goes into lockdown

An aerial view of Angoon, a small coastal village in Southeast Alaska.
Angoon, pictured here in 2017, is home to about 500 people. Testing began immediately following the announcement of the six new cases in Angoon on Wednesday. (Photo by Emily Russell/KCAW)

The City of Angoon is going into lockdown after six more positive cases of coronavirus were confirmed in the community Wednesday, Aug. 26. The news comes just a day after reports of Angoon’s first confirmed positive.

The new cases take Angoon’s total to eight, prompting Mayor Joshua Bowen to issue an emergency order requiring all travelers to the community to self-isolate for two weeks on arrival. The order also requires anyone who has tested positive for the virus — or has been in close contact with someone who tested positive — to self-quarantine for two weeks.

The only exemptions to Angoon’s emergency order are travelers the state classifies as providing essential services or critical workforce infrastructure.

Community-wide testing began immediately after the announcement of the six new cases, and the city is asking Angoon’s 500 residents to limit their contact with other households until they get their test results.

Meanwhile, in the nearby community of Kake, similar strict measures to contain an outbreak there seem to have paid off.

In an Aug. 26 emergency meeting of the Kake City Council, Lloyd Davis reported that four people who tested positive on Aug. 15 had completed a 10-day isolation and were no longer considered active cases. And Davis said that Kake, which had 11 COVID-19 cases altogether, was now effectively virus-free.

“As of today, we don’t have any active positive cases,” said Davis.

Davis urged fellow council members to maintain the community’s travel restrictions and not to schedule large gatherings or events.

“We need to get it out to the community there that we need to keep it as tight as we can there, for the sake of our school,” he said.

Davis said remote education was proving tough, and he wanted to avoid a school shutdown like the one Angoon was now facing.

KCAW - Sitka

KCAW is our partner station in Sitka. KTOO collaborates with partners across the state to cover important news and to share stories with our audiences.

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