The City of Unalaska reported 10 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday. All but one is among the crew of the F/T Enterprise, a trawler.
The 28-person catcher-processor arrived in Unalaska on Dec. 5 and is owned by O'Hara Corporation, the city said in a statement.
The infected crew members are in isolation in Unalaska's quarantine facility and are being monitored by staff from Iliuliuk Family and Health Services, City Manager Erin Reinders said. Contact tracing is underway.
"The O'Hara Corporation is greatly concerned by the recent positive COVID test results on board the F/T Enterprise," the Seattle-based company said in a statement. "Our primary concern is the health of our crew and preventing impacts to the community of Unalaska."
The tenth case the city reported Monday is an Unalaska resident.
To date, this marks 152 cases of the coronavirus in Unalaska, 42 of which are currently active. Some 24 of those are among the crew of a United States Seafoods trawler who tested positive for COVID-19 in Unalaska last week.
Reinders said the new cases put additional pressure on Unalaska's clinic and asked residents to cooperate with local and state COVID-19 mandates.
"The majority of these cases that we're talking about right now are related to isolated outbreaks: one on the Enterprise and one on the Legacy," Reinders said. "But there is another community member who has recently tested positive, which has the potential for additional cases throughout the community."
The city's local risk factor remains at "high," in light of two cases of community spread and "potential widespread exposure" to the virus reported early last week. The City Council subsequently passed a "hunker down" order, under which students transitioned to distance learning, restaurants and bars closed to dine-in services and city facilities shut down.
The order will be revisited at a special meeting on Dec. 15.
