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IFHS Clinic Prepares For Cold And Flu Season Amid Pandemic

KUCB

 

Clinic officials say Unalaska has been “very, very lucky” when it comes to COVID-19 testing supplies, especially as the state is seeing an uptick in cases, and communities across the country face supply shortages.  

According to Dr. Murray Buttner, a family medicine physician with Iliuliuk Family and Health Services, Unalaska’s clinic received a shipment of 10,000 test kits from the state last week. 

“Honestly, without any hyperbole, I don't think there's a community in the country that has the testing capacity per capita that we have here,” Buttner said. “And so I don't think that's anything people need to worry about.” 

Buttner said the island has plenty of supplies to test anyone who might be experiencing symptoms of COVID-19. And the number of people with similar symptoms will likely be increasing as we move into the winter months, when illnesses with respiratory symptoms begin popping up. 

“Kids are back in school, people are indoors, the climate changes — this is the time of year where we always start seeing more people with coughs and colds and fevers and sore throats and all the upper respiratory stuff,” he said.  

We’re also on the cusp of flu season, he added. 

And in recent weeks, a cold has begun to spread across the island, said Buttner — affecting numerous kids in Unalaska’s schools, as well as community members. 

While he said getting tested for COVID-19 could allay some concern — especially for parents wondering whether or not to let their children attend school —  Buttner said not everyone needs to be tested. 

“If you've come back from off island, or have had close contact with someone who has recently been off the island, or you've had contact with someone who has tested positive or has had COVID-19 — that would be a great reason to get tested,” he said. “But if you think you just have a cold and you don't have a high-risk exposure history, and we don't have any community spread yet, then I think the test is probably unnecessary.” 

The clinic is actually seeing fewer people with upper respiratory symptoms than usual for this time of year, according to Buttner. He said that’s likely due to COVID-19 mitigation strategies — such as social distancing, mask-wearing, and hand-washing —  which have also limited the spread of these less severe illnesses. 

Hope McKenney is a public radio news director, reporter, producer and host based in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska.
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