While 2023 saw the closest thing to a “return to normalcy” since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, actual COVID numbers and hospitalizations were reported to be rising for the first few months of the year before dropping to unprecedented lows. With a drastic decrease in demand for on-site tests and vaccines, the South Peninsula COVID-19 testing and vaccine site closed its doors, giving way to at-home testing and treatment at the regular hospital facilities.
The Kenai Peninsula Borough Office of Emergency Management began installations of new tsunami siren equipment across the borough this week. Siren equipment in the 14 existent locations will be replaced, and two additional sirens will be built in new locations, totalling 16 tsunami siren installations by the project’s end.