Trump! Do Not Use Alaska As A Reason Not To Order A Lockdown

I couldn’t believe it when I heard that Trump said he didn’t need to order anything because not all states have the Coronavirus.

Unfortunately, he didn’t seem to know that Alaska has at least 143 confirmed cases of the Coronavirus. The cases range from Ketchikan to Fairbanks and several cities including Anchorage.

Alaska has done several things that most states cannot easily do. The state issued an order closing all restaurants, bars, etc just like everyone else. They told people to stay home, closed schools, kept group size down, and asked everyone to practice social distancing. Yes, I know that is what so many are doing but we took it a step farther.

Many villages, including the one I live in, instituted strict regulations to the point no passenger planes in or out with passengers unless the people passed an hour long interview with the travel committee and once here, they have to undergo a 14 day quarantine. They also made anyone arriving after the first real cases began appearing to undergo a 14 day quarantine.

The governor soon followed by restricting intrastate travel except for medical emergencies and essential personnel. He also instituted a 14 day quarantine for anyone who arrived into the state from outside the state. At no point did he stop planes from flying, he just restricted the travel of people, not cargo or mail.

Just today, one of the major regional airlines, Ravn, announced it was cutting service to at least 180 communities and for the remaining villages, they would still have some service. When they cut service to the 180 communities, they left mail and cargo with no way to get there. Alaskans rely on mail service to get most of their things from Walmart, Target, and Amazon. It also means things like medical supplies, personal protective gear, and virus tests may not get to where they need to be.

With the airline cutting flights, we cannot switch to sending it all by trucks because we have no roads. As we have done in the past, we will adjust and live with it.

The state of Alaska began setting a lot of things in place to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus because if it hits the smaller villages in the bush, the number of deaths will go up and none of us want that.

According to what I just heard, the state is calling up members of the national guard to help as needed which includes transporting those who are sick to better medical facilities, carry supplies, and anything else that is needed.

As a state, we are not waiting for the government to make rules and regulations. We are doing it ourselves. Citizens are making medical masks, shields and anything else we can for hospitals and clinics. We are being proactive.

So if Trump is going to talk about the Coronavirus and Alaska, he should be holding us up as an example of what can be done, not as an excuse for choosing not to do something. Let me know what you think.