By Casey Grove, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage – February 6, 2021 Alaska’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Anne Zink, is vaccinated against COVID-19 by Dr. Michael Alter, Emergency Medicine Specialist at Mat-su Regional Medical Center on Dec. 18. (Alaska Department of Health and Social Services) Health officials want Alaskans to know COVID-19 vaccines have not killed anyone in the state …

By BRIAN VENUA, KDLG-Dillingham In Bristol Bay communities, subsistence is one feature of daily life that has stayed consistent during the pandemic. Now, it’s part of the school’s curriculum. Communities around Bristol Bay have endeavored to protect their residents from COVID-19 for almost a year. The Chief Ivan Blunka School in New Stuyahok was among the many schools that shifted to …

By TYLER THOMPSON, KDLG A common symptom of Brucella in caribou is swelling in the knee, where most of the bacteria is stored. Brucellosis can cause a high fever similar to the flu in people.PHOTO FROM GNWT ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES, ADF&G State biologists have found an unusual disease among caribou in Southwest Alaska. The disease is called brucellosis, and the …

January 29, 2021 by Hope McKenney, KUCB – Unalaska Akutan Volcano overshadows the village of Akutan and the Trident seafood plant, which has nearly 1,000 workers (Courtesy Helena Buurman/Alaska Volcano Observatory) COVID-19 has hit another processing plant operated by fishing giant Trident Seafoods — this time aboard one of the corporation’s massive factory trawlers, the Island Enterprise. Trident announced Thursday that five …

January 27, 2021 by Hope McKenney, KUCB – Unalaska Trident Seafoods has only tested about half of its 700 workers, and officials say they think the outbreak is still on what they call an upward trajectory. (Laura Kraegel/KUCB) A COVID-19 outbreak at one of Alaska’s largest fish processing plants has infected nearly 20% of workers with testing only partially finished, officials said …

By Joe Viechnicki–KSKA  | Jan 26, 2021 Darius Kasperzak delivers testimony at the January, 2020 Board of Fish meeting in Kodiak. (Photo by Kavitha George/KMXT) Alaska’s Board of Fisheries Monday voted to postpone in-person meetings planned for Ketchikan, Cordova and Anchorage this spring because of COVID-19 precautions. But the board decided not to push back their schedule for next year. …

January 25, 2021 by Sabine Poux, KDLL – Kenai Upper Cook Inlet fishermen should expect another below-average sockeye run this year. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game forecasts a return of 4,370,000 sockeye to Upper Cook Inlet in 2021, according to a report released Friday. Brian Marston, Fish and Game’s area manager for Upper Cook Inlet commercial fisheries, says the projections aren’t …

January 20, 2021 by Hope McKenney, KUCB – Unalaska The four cases mark the first confirmed COVID-19 outbreak at any of Trident’s Alaska facilities. (Laura Kraegel/KUCB) 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 …

By Joe Viechnicki, KFSK – Petersburg -January 19, 2021 Long-line caught halibut await unloading in Petersburg. (Angela Denning/KFSK) A federal agency has put dollar amounts on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic for commercial and charter fishing industries nationwide. On Friday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released a report on the virus’ economic impact on seafood and charter fishing through August …

January 19, 2021 by Lex Treinen, Alaska Public Media The Robert B. Atwood building and neighbors in downtown Anchorage. (Alaska Public Media staff photo) Several state buildings in Juneau and Anchorage are closed out of an “abundance of caution” due to fears about pre-inauguration violence. The closures were announced in an internal memo from Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s chief of staff, Ben Stevens, on Friday. …