ruralcovid

It's the 21st Alaskan to die with COVID-19.

The community has been in lockdown since March, and the cases only resulted from a false positive of a resident who had been flown to Fairbanks.

The person had recently traveled outside of the community.

The 34 crew members who tested negative will be flown to Anchorage on chartered planes. Those who tested positive will remain on the boat, which will sail to Seward, then be transported to Anchorage.

One of the cases was in the community of Teller, population 237. Health authorities say they will offer additional testing for residents there.

The community has reported just two resident cases but council members expressed concern about limited healthcare capacity in the town of about 4,000.

The passenger boarded the Kennicott in Washington state and disembarked in Whittier and Cordova.

Officials from the village say they've heard that Napaskiak residents have been turned away from Bethel businesses after two positive tests last week. But one of those results was potentially a false positive.

The city manager says Bethel is in a unique position since all traffic to smaller villages goes through town.

It's the fourth COVID-19 case for a Norton Sound Healthcare Corporation employee.