For those of you following the DHSS COVID-19 Response Hub, you will see that the Section of Epidemiology releases data regarding positive cases on Prince of Wales Island. The two cases in Craig have been listed on this website as being residents of Craig. We just recently learned that if your community is less than 1000 people, you will not be listed by specific community. You will be listed as “Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area, Other” This is to protect the anonymity of individuals in very small communities.
Kara and I can still reach out to the community leader who you have all identified to notify that your community has a positive. We will give no other information than that. This gives you the opportunity to put out a press release if you wish to do so. If your community council prefers not to know that you have a positive in your community, that is fine too. We do not need to outreach any community leadership.
I want to provide you some examples because I feel this is a lot of information……
Craig Public Health gets notified that a resident living on Prince of Wales in community “A” is positive for COVID-19. We then reach out to the identified community leader in community “A” and let them know that they have a resident in their community with COVID-19. Community “A” puts out a press release stating that they have a positive. The State of AK DHSS website will still not list that specific community. They will only list the positive as “Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area, Other” OR
Craig Public Health gets notified that a resident living on Prince of Wales in community “A” is positive for COVID-19. We then reach out to the identified community leader in community “A” and let them know that they have a resident in their community with COVID-19. Community “A” opts not to put out a press release. The State of AK DHSS website will still not list that specific community. They will only list the positive as “Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area, Other” OR
Craig Public Health gets notified that a resident living on Prince of Wales in community “A” is positive for COVID-19. The community leadership has let Craig Public Health know that they would not like to be notified of any positives in their community. The State of AK DHSS website will still not list that specific community. They will only list the positive as “Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area, Other”.
Please let Craig Public Health know if you prefer to be notified with a positive or not. We are happy to accommodate various requests.
Stacey Mank, RN
Craig Public Health