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Unalaska has received its first shipment of at-home COVID-19 tests, according to local health officials. A shipment of 200 tests from the state of Alaska arrived this week and is now available to the community, said Megan Sarnecki, medical director at the Iliuliuk Family and Health Services clinic. The clinic was approved for 1,000 at-home tests – or 500 boxes of two tests each – from the state.
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A local state of emergency that allowed the City of Unalaska to enact protective measures against COVID-19 will expire Friday. City Council took no action at a meeting Tuesday night to extend the declaration, which has been in place since the pandemic began in March 2020. When the declaration expires, the city will no longer be able to issue protective measures — like mask mandates — unless a new emergency is declared.
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St. Paul is getting a new police chief this week, about a month after the island’s entire police department resigned over a COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
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Iliuliuk Family and Health Services’ clinic director is stepping down after more than two years at the helm of the Unalaska clinic.Melanee Tiura will be taking a job as an administrator with Providence Medical Center in Valdez. Her last day at IFHS is Dec. 10.
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The City of St. Paul says two essential workers tested positive for COVID-19 Monday, after flying into the community. The tests were performed at the local health center as part of the city’s travel testing requirements, according to a city statement.
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Masks will remain optional at Unalaska schools, despite the district returning to its medium COVID-19 transmission threshold, according to Unalaska City School District officials.The loosened masking rules took effect on Monday, after the city reported zero active community acquired COVID-19 cases the prior week. According to the district’s mitigation plan, that drop meant the schools would shift their transmission level to low and masks would no longer be required.
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Unalaska’s high school wrestling team competed at the Bethel Scramble earlier this month. It was a two-day tournament with a total of 16 schools and over 190 wrestlers in attendance.Because the COVID-19 pandemic halted close-contact sports, it was also the first time in roughly two years that the island’s wrestling team had traveled to compete.
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Unalaska students still must wear masks at school, even while the city is operating at its low COVID-19 risk level and only encouraging masking indoors.The Unalaska school board decided Tuesday that the district will drop to its low transmission level and students can stop wearing masks in school buildings when the city’s COVID-19 case count drops to zero and the Emergency Operations Center advises the change. Previously, the district would only move to its low transmission level after the city had gone two weeks with no community-acquired cases of the virus.
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Unalaska High School’s cross country team traveled to Anchorage to compete in the state tournament earlier this month.Nine UCSD runners competed in the five kilometer race, which took place on a muddy course at Bartlett High School.
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Unalaska’s mask mandate expired at noon on Wednesday, as local COVID-19 cases continue to decline.City council members voted unanimously at their Tuesday meeting to “encourage” face coverings, as opposed to requiring them. The city had enforced a mask requirement since Aug. 25, when the community experienced a surge of confirmed COVID-19 cases. At its peak, the city reported 30 cases of the virus.