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.