The people who have tested positive are all currently in 10-day isolation periods, Dillingham Public Health said Friday.
There are 35 active cases of COVID-19 in the City of Dillingham as of Friday, according to Dillingham Public Health.
Nurse Gina Carpenter said those people are all currently in 10-day isolation periods.
“By 10 days, pretty much nobody is shedding coronavirus any longer," she said. "So that’s why everyone is encouraged strongly to stay home for 10 days if they test positive for COVID.”
Carpenter said people who test positive for COVID shouldn’t get tested again for three months.
“People may persist in having a positive test even though there is no virus they’re shedding to other people,” she said.
Public Health’s case counts for Dillingham are higher than the state’s. In the last 10 days, since Aug. 24, the state has logged 15 new COVID-19 cases in Dillingham.
Elizabeth Manning, Department of Health and Social Services communications manager, said in an email Sunday that there is sometimes a lag between cases the state reports on its dashboard and those local communities report, "due to the time involved getting them reported to us and entered into our system." Manning said that once DHSS receives the case reports, it verifies them, then enters the cases into the state database. A high number of reports can delay that process.
Local entities handle reports differently; for instance, Dillingham Public Health is tracking cases that are considered active.
Carpenter said Public Health has seen the number of people getting vaccinated in Dillingham drop.
“We’re just not really seeing any more people that are stepping up and getting their vaccine," she said. "We are going to be continuing to struggle with this virus and struggling to keep schools open and to keep people safe until the majority of us -- like small pox -- can be vaccinated and then we can hopefully eradicate the virus.”
According to the state’s vaccine dashboard, 63% of people 12 years and older in the Dillingham Census Area have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Testing and vaccinations are available in Dillingham at the Capstone Clinic, located downtown at the old Tribal building by the library. Capstone also offers testing at Freshwater Adventures by the airport, open 12 - 6 p.m., seven days a week.
COVID-19 testing and vaccine information:
Dillingham Public Health Center: 907-842-5981
Capstone Clinic: 907-843-2739
Testing at Freshwater Adventures at the Dillingham airport
Open 12 p.m. - 6 p.m. seven days a week
Testing and vaccinations at the Tribal building downtown next to the library
Open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday – Friday
Vaccinations available 10:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Contact the author at izzy@kdlg.org or 907-842-2200.
This story was updated on Sunday, Sept. 5 with a response from the state.
Contact the author at izzy@kdlg.org or 907-842-2200.
