Health officials urge Alaskans to keep following local mask rules after CDC relaxes guidance for vaccinated individuals Published 1 hour ago
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We re making this important information available without a subscription as a public service. But we depend on reader support to do this work. Please consider supporting independent journalism in Alaska, at just $3.69 a week for an online subscription. State health officials are urging Alaskans to continue to follow local mask requirements and business-specific rules after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday relaxed its guidance for those who are fully vaccinated. In a significant shift, the CDC said Thursday that fully vaccinated people can now go safely without face coverings in most indoor and outdoor settings.
Print article An Alaska psychiatrist criminally charged for punching a man in a grocery store in June was acquitted after a two-day trial in Juneau last month. The misdemeanor assault charge against Joshua Sonkiss, 50, made headlines during the tense pandemic summer in part because police said the psychiatrist punched a man in the face because he wasn’t wearing a mask. That’s not what happened, Sonkiss says. In an interview last week, Sonkiss said he went to a Juneau Fred Meyer to pick up groceries and cleaning supplies. He was standing at the checkout register when a man and his young son stepped close to him. Sonkiss says he asked the two to step back. They were not wearing masks, but many people weren’t at grocery stores in Juneau around that time, according to Sonkiss.
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How behavioral health crises strain Alaska’s emergency rooms SPONSORED: Emergency medical personnel say that they can, will and do help patients in crisis - but that a new approach would benefit everyone involved. Author: Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority Published March 8
Part 3 of 6 A broken arm. A heart attack. A manic episode. Thoughts of suicide. All of these are emergencies, and any one of them might land you in the nearest emergency room. But the clinicians who work in those emergency rooms say the same high-energy, high-intensity environment that is life-saving for medical emergencies can also be high-risk for patients who are experiencing a behavioral health crisis.
Print article Seeking efficiency, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy is preparing an executive order to split the state’s largest agency in half, he said Tuesday. The order, which will be introduced at the start of the legislative session, will separate the Department of Health and Social Services into a Department of Health and a Department of Family and Community Services. The health department will be in charge of Medicaid, public health and public assistance. The other agency will be in charge of children’s services, juvenile justice, Pioneer Homes and the Alaska Psychiatric Institute. In a written statement, Dunleavy said the “reorganization will not reduce programs or services to Alaskans who are currently served.”