FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 12, 2020
Contact: Reba Lean, Public Relations Manager
Phone: 907-443-9674
Nome, Alaska – Another patient has tested positive for COVID-19 in relation to two travel-related cases announced on Tuesday, August 11. This patient is also a resident of Nome and is considered a close contact of the other confirmed COVID-19 patients.
Norton Sound Health Corporation notified the State of Alaska Section of Epidemiology and Public Health Nursing, which will conduct further investigation and contact tracing. NSHC is considering the patient’s virus acquisition a “secondary” case, meaning they picked it up from another patient known close contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19.
If you have not been contacted by NSHC or Public Health Nursing and identified as a close contact of recent cases, but you still have concerns, you can get tested for COVID-19. In Nome, you can go to the walk-in testing tent from 8-11 a.m. and 12:30-5 p.m. Monday-Friday or 1-5 p.m. on Sundays. In the villages, you may call your local clinic to arrange a test. In addition, if you have concerns about having contact with people who were identified as close contacts, NSHC recommends you keep your distance from others. Contacts of close contacts are not required to quarantine.
A close contact is defined by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention as someone who has spent 15 minutes within 6 feet of a confirmed case. During the investigation process with a confirmed case, close contacts are identified. Public Health Nursing or NSHC will reach out to those people and instruct them on quarantine requirements and provide other education.
