On Aug. 10, the Haines Borough finalized an agreement with Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) to offer free testing for asymptomatic travelers entering Haines from other parts of Alaska.
The agreement will allow people to comply more easily with revisions in June to Haines’ 14-day quarantine recommendation.
Under the updated borough recommendation, travelers entering Haines from within Alaska are encouraged to either quarantine for 14 days or follow a two-tiered testing protocol. For example, to comply with the borough’s recommendation, a visitor from Juneau should take a test before departing for Haines and again 7 to 14 days after arriving in town–or quarantine for 14 days after they get here.
The state has similar protocol in place for travelers entering from outside Alaska, except the state’s requirements are mandatory.
In-state travelers who wish to receive a free test must contact the Haines Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at [email protected] to request a voucher. Those with vouchers will be able to receive tests at the Haines Health Center Tuesday through Friday at 10 a.m. Scheduling an appointment in advance by calling 766-6300 is encouraged.
The EOC is still finalizing a plan for making travelers aware of the free testing and the need to request a voucher, incident commander Carolann Wooton said in an Aug. 14 email.
At present, the Haines Borough Assembly has set aside $50,000 in CARES Act dollars for testing, the equivalent of roughly 250 tests. Free testing for in-state travelers will remain available until funding runs out, unless the assembly dedicates additional funds.
Wooton said as of Aug. 14, no borough-funded tests had been administered.
Free testing for everyone, regardless of travel history, is available at the Haines clinic on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Free testing is available at the Klukwan clinic on Tuesdays from 10:30 a.m. to noon. The tests are funded through the end of the year by a U.S. Indian Health Service grant. Those tested will be asked to provide minimal information and do not need an appointment.
As of Aug. 17, there had been a total of 1,969 tests performed in Haines and Klukwan, according to SEARHC spokesperson Maegan Bosak. Of these, 1,868 have come back negative, 5 positive, and 96 are still pending. The current turnaround time for test results in Haines is approximately seven days.