U.S. Congress 2019-2020: Bills Introduced (Over 5,000 in the House and over 3,000 in the Senate)
Ketchikan: First COVID-19 Vaccines Being Administered in Ketchikan - PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center began administering doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to frontline employees and medical staff Tuesday. Family medicine physician Charlie Jose, MD, and emergency room nurse Amanda Schlecht, RN, were the first two to receive the vaccine. Dr. Jose and Amanda Schlecht have been on the frontlines of patient care throughout the pandemic. Both were eager to receive the vaccine and look forward to the greater community getting immunized when supplies increase.
PeaceHealth will continue to vaccinate frontline staff over the coming weeks and will continue to work with the Emergency Operations Center and local public health to support community distribution of vaccine once it becomes broadly available.
Posted by Eric Stone | Dec 31, 2020
The coronavirus pandemic shaped a strange year in the far southeast reaches of the state. On St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, officials in Ketchikan reported the first positive coronavirus test in Southeast Alaska.
That was before masks, travel restrictions and lockdowns and the virus spread quickly at first. After the governor ordered some businesses to close and local officials encouraged folks to hunker down, the immediate threat passed.
But the threat of the pandemic was two-pronged not just a public health crisis, but an economic catastrophe for Ketchikan and much of Southeast Alaska after health officials banned cruising in U.S. waters.
In a normal year, the big topic of conversation would have been the heavy summer rainfall or the December deluge that threatened to cause Ketchikan Lakes Dam to breach. Or it might have been the month-long visit of Phoenix the humpback whale who bubble fed just about every day for four weeks in November at the downtown Ketchikan docks.
But in Ketchikan, in 2020, the biggest news was the same as it was all over the world, the COVID-19 Pandemic and how it changed nearly every facet of our lives over the last nine months of the year.
COVID-19 arrived in March in the First City, and, by the end of the year, more than 250 residents and travelers had tested positive. One local woman, Julie Wasuli of Saxman, died from COVID-19 in December at a hospital in Bellingham, Washington.
Wasuli was transferred from the Ketchikan COVID unit to a hospital in Bellingham on November 16.
City of Saxman Mayor Frank Seludo said it was a difficult time for his community, This loss is very great for our community. We have lost a neighbor, a friend, a sister, and a mother. Our community is very saddened and we appreciate the prayers of support.
Ketchikan Gateway Borough Mayor Rodney Dial offered his condolences to the family. My hope and daily prayers have always been that we as a community could get through this pandemic without a single citizen dying. My heart goes out to the family and I ask that we pray for their strength, comfort, and God s protection on our island.