A cluster of coronavirus cases associated with Juneau’s homeless population has grown to 31 people, Juneau officials said Tuesday.
“I would not use the words ‘under control’ to describe (this outbreak)," Juneau city manager Rorie Watt said during a community briefing on Tuesday afternoon. “It’s a lot of cases, and our goal is to have it not turn into substantially more.”
On Friday, more than 100 COVID-19 tests were completed at three separate locations around the city: Housing First, AWARE and the Glory Hall. So far, nine results from that round of testing have come back positive, bringing the total number of cases associated with the unsheltered population in this cluster to 31, the City and Borough of Juneau Emergency Operations Center said in a statement.
Centennial Hall, a local convention center, has been designated as an isolation facility for homeless residents who have tested positive for the virus, Juneau officials said. Another facility will continue to be used for quarantine.
The Downtown Public Library — which officials described as “a popular facility for individuals experiencing homelessness" — is also no longer open to indoor service, but will offer curbside delivery for holds instead.
At the briefing on Tuesday, city officials encouraged Juneau residents to step up their personal virus mitigation efforts as community resources shifted to addressing this outbreak.
“I think it’s super important that when we’re struggling in one area — and I will readily admit that we’re struggling to manage the situation with the homeless population — we really need the rest of the community to be particularly good," Watt said.
Staff from Bartlett Regional Hospital were re-deployed on Tuesday to help staff Centennial Hall, which means reduced hospital staff and increased pressure for workers there, Watt said.
The other challenge the city is facing is how best to conduct contact tracing within a transient population, said Robert Barr, planning chief of Juneau’s emergency operations center, during the briefing.
“Performing contact tracing investigations among the unhoused population presents new challenges,” he said. “It’s hard to contact trace with someone who doesn’t have a phone.”
While daily statewide virus case tallies have been rising in the past several weeks, cases across Southeast Alaska have dropped off recently. In Juneau, five residents tested positive for the virus on Tuesday, and the region’s alert level stayed at “intermediate,” with an 8.71 case rate average per 100,000 people.
The cluster among Juneau’s homeless population was first identified last week, when three residents within that population tested positive during routine testing efforts.
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