Fort Greely officials are reminding people who work or live on post to contact the Fort Wainwright Public Health office if they’ve been notified by the school district that they or their child may have been exposed to the coronavirus recently.
The message on Fort Greely’s homepage showed up a couple of weeks ago, in response to efforts by Delta Elementary School officials to inform parents that a person associated with the school who’d tested positive for covid may have exposed others to the virus.
“It was a letter sent home from the elementary school to certain people – there were calls, as well – just stating that your child has been in close contact to somebody who’d tested positive,” says Fort Greely spokesperson Chris Maestas.
The message was posted to the fort’s website on Oct. 24 to refer personnel to the proper agency to get in touch with if they’d gotten one of the calls or letters, Maestas said. He added that some may need to know whether any additional family members in a household, including people who work on post, will need to quarantine before they can come back on to the installation.
“If you had been contacted by the school saying that your child was a close contact to somebody who had tested positive, please contact Public Health,” he said in an interview Saturday.
The homepage message says: “Delta Junction has experienced the highest case count of positive COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began. If you or your child has been notified of a close contact and advised to quarantine for 14 days, please call Public Health.”
“And really, that’s the group that’s going to be able to tell you exactly what you need to do,” he said. The online message directs calls to the Fort Wainwright Public Health office: (907) 361-3057.
Meanwhile, the state Department of Health and Social Services says nine more people in the Delta area tested positive for coronavirus over the seven-day reporting period that ended Saturday. According to the local COVID-19 Incident Management Team, that brings the total number of Delta-area cases reported so far to 34.
