AKUTAN

A second seafood processing plant in the Aleutian Islands has been hit with COVID-19 infections as the busy winter pollock fishing season is set to kick off.

The U.S. Coast Guard evacuated a Trident Seafoods worker to Anchorage on Sunday from its huge plant on the remote Aleutian island of Akutan, after the man tested positive for COVID-19. 

His three roommates also tested positive, Trident said in a statement Monday. 

A magnitude-6.4 earthquake hit about 25 miles east of Nikolski Tuesday morning, and was felt by residents in Nikolski, Unalaska, and Akutan. The earthquake hit just before 7:30 a.m.

It was a "reasonable size tectonic earthquake," according to Dave Schneider, a geophysicist with the Alaska Volcano Observatory. He said Aleutian Island residents can expect to feel some aftershocks.

"This is a pretty typical tectonic earthquake for the region," he said. "It's on a very seismically active part of the Aleutian arc, and there's nothing that jumps out as being unusual."

Akutan has gone into lockdown until further notice after confirming its first COVID-19 case on Sunday. 

Akutan city officials said in a statement that residents are being ordered to shelter in place, and travel is restricted except for emergency medical reasons, critical infrastructure work, or other exemptions by state law.

Residents of the small community located 35 miles east of Unalaska are also encouraged to stay in their homes except to buy groceries, medicine, or travel for health reasons. 

The federal government says it's investing $46.5 million to bring high speed internet to communities across coastal Alaska. That's expected to improve internet speeds in Southeast Alaska and out as far as the Aleutians.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue made the announcement Tuesday. He says he understands Alaskans are isolated by geography.