COVID-19

Public schools in the Fairbanks area are on track to open classrooms to elementary students on October 5 and middle school students October 19. The Board of Education for the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District had another late-running meeting late night to hear conflicting testimony from parents, teachers and students. But the issues for returning high school students were too complicated for the board to pick one of two plans and the board rejected both of them.

As this summer’s tourism season winds down, Denali Borough officials and business persons are assessing the economic impact of the sharp, pandemic-driven decline in the number of visitors to Denali National Park. The downturn has been especially painful for communities that are heavily dependent on the tourism industry, like those in the Denali Borough.

Fairbanks North Star Borough School District officials decided this week to keep students home to work on classes online, in response to an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases locally. But students in two smaller districts south of Fairbanks are attending class in schools, because there’ve only been a few COVID cases in their communities – so far.

Schools in the Fairbanks North Star Borough are now in the state Department of Education and Early Development's "Red Zone."

It is defined as an average of 10 or more new  COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people over the last two weeks in a community.

The average for Fairbanks North Star Borough exceeds that: 152 cases in the last 14 days is about 11 per day.

The borough has a total of 692 COVID-19 cases, and only 241 are presumed to have recovered. Six have died and the rest are assumed to be infectious.

While it means no change for most students, who are already getting distance delivery of classes at home, it means student athletes must stop playing unless a 10-foot distance can be maintained.

According to a notice sent to parents yesterday, the decision was made with consultation with the district's Medical Advisory Committee.

The committee's Dr. Mishelle Nace and Superintendent Karen Gaborik will give an update at tonight's Board of Education meeting at 6:00 p.m.

A long look at how Alaska’s economy will change and recover was presented recently to the Greater Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce. In an online session, UAA economist Mouhcine Geuttabi stepped through employment and spending in Alaska before and after the pandemic.

The Pentagon agency that runs the nation’s missile-defense system halted work earlier this year on a $375 million radar facility near Clear, largely because of COVID-19 concerns. A congressional report says the decision will likely delay the Missile Defense Agency’s fielding of the advanced radar facility by about a year.

A business and innovation office on the University of Alaska campus has pivoted this spring and summer to finding solutions for the coronavirus pandemic. The Center for Innovation, Commercialization, and Entrepreneurship is offering startup money and support to Alaskans with ideas to do things differently.

Fairbanks recorded its sixth COVID-19-related death on Tuesday, Aug. 11. Alaska's Department of Health and Social Services announced on Wednesday, August 12. The person who died was a woman who lived in Fairbanks in her 70s with underlying health conditions.

The number of recorede positive COVID-19 cases in Fairbanks has declined.

The free COVID-19 testing center is open again today in the parking lot of the Carlson Center in Fairbanks. The drive-up testing tent is a collaboration between Alaska Public Health Nurses and the regional pharmacists from Fred Meyer. Alaska is processing about 10-thousand virus tests each week, but still cannot do enough.