UPDATE: Beginning Sunday, the City and Borough of Juneau Assembly has mandated that anyone traveling to the city from outside of Alaska or from a community that has a confirmed COVID-19 case must self-quarantine for 14 days. For more info, visit KTOO.
As more positive cases of COVID-19 continue to appear in Alaska, the City and Borough of Juneau is eyeing the community’s main point of entry: the airport.
The Juneau International Airport sees multiple daily flights to and from Seattle — one of the epicenters of coronavirus spread in the United States. Starting Thursday, passengers arriving at the airport can request to have their temperature checked.
Anyone with a temperature above 100.4 degrees will be advised to contact medical providers and to self-quarantine. Capital City Fire/Rescue Chief Rich Etheridge said EMTs are stationed outside the departure lounge exit. They estimate they’ve screened about 50% to 70% of passengers exiting the airport so far.
The Juneau Assembly voted unanimously Thursday to send a letter to Gov. Mike Dunleavy urging him to officially restrict non-essential travel.
Related: Read more coronavirus coverage from Alaska Public Media.
On Friday, the state issued a health advisory recommending Alaskans avoid non-essential travel in and outside the state.
Assemblymember Greg Smith said it’s important for Juneau residents to avoid travel right now to prevent possibly transmitting the virus.
“We’ve seen from the recent cases, the confirmed cases in Alaska, that they’ve been travel-related,” Smith said Friday. “We know we don’t have the screening and the testing that we need, and as a result, it’s important for people to take action to really reduce the transmission of this virus.”
Earlier this week, the state issued a health mandate requiring anyone returning from countries with widespread coronavirus transmission to self-quarantine for 14-days.
Smith recommends that anyone who has been outside of Juneau do the same.
