Two symptomatic cases of the COVID-19 have been reported in Haines this week, Maggie Rae Martin, 23, and a Haines High School female student.
An out-of-town worker who was in Haines last week tested positive for the virus this week, after she left town. The borough closed the water and sewer treatment plants to the public as a result.
The student’s positive case did not require the school to close, said superintendent Roy Getchell. The student tested positive on Sunday.
“Fortunately, the family had been proactively following the recommended protocols, and the student had already been in quarantine for several days before developing symptoms,” Getchell said in a statement from the school. “Since the student was not at school during the contagious period, it is not necessary to close the school.”
Getchell said he made the call based on advice from local health professionals who advise the school on a weekly basis.
Martin tested positive on Wednesday, Oct. 28 after losing her sense of smell and taste, and experiencing difficulty breathing, she said. She had traveled from Fairbanks the week before and started experiencing cold-like symptoms several days after returning to Haines on Oct. 18. The following week, her symptoms got worse.
“Tuesday morning is when I noticed it was difficult to breathe, difficult to even walk because I was so dizzy and the endless headache,” Martin said. “At that point I hadn’t taken anything medicine-wise, just a couple vitamin C tablets. Wednesday it felt like I got ran over by a car so I decided to try to make a doctor’s appointment.”
She was given a rapid test by SEARHC staff and the results came back positive. Martin said soon after she got in touch with family members who were considered close contacts. She was then booked into a room at Captain’s Choice to isolate and wait out the symptoms.
Martin spoke publicly on social media about contracting the virus because, she said, the public should know that she tested positive so that anyone who was near her could get tested. She said she received some negative messages but that the community was largely supportive. Cassie Miller started a meal train for Martin and her family while they are in quarantine. She said many others have reached out and wished her well.
“It definitely scared me when I got tested positive,” Martin said. “I felt like I brought COVID to Haines and infected the community. But like all the Haines community members have told me, it could’ve happened to anyone. There’s definitely a lot more friendly Haines folks than there are negative.”
The Haines Borough Emergency Operations Center issued a statement to Haines: It has come to our attention that the individual who has recently tested positive for COVID has chosen to identify herself. We also understand that some people have been more than unsupportive to her and even blaming and shaming her. The fact is, that due to her courage in disclosing her identity, we have been able to more quickly identify close contacts and businesses which believe they may have been affected, have been able to warn staff, deep clean and contain potential additional transmission. The EOC would like to THANK this brave young lady for testing, and self-identifying when she learned that she tested positive for COVID.
On Monday, she said she was feeling much better but was still experiencing some difficulty breathing, dizziness and couldn’t taste or smell. She stayed in the hotel until Nov. 5 and then will finish her quarantine with her family through Nov. 11.
On Monday, Nov. 2 the Haines Borough Emergency Operations Center reported that a visiting essential worker from Anchorage who was in Haines last week working as a consultant for the borough, tested positive for the COVID-19 virus this week after she left town. Out of an abundance of caution, public access to both the water plant and sewer plant will be restricted for two weeks, according to an EOC statement.
Two weeks ago, Lori Carter’s mother, Joyce Webster, tested positive for the virus but was asymptomatic. She traveled to Juneau and Haines to help the Carters with their newborn. Carter said her mother quarantined before traveling to Alaska and followed all the protocol for out-of-state travelers.
“We were trying to do the best we could even though we knew bringing someone from out of state could lead to some risk,” Carter said.
The family picked up Carter’s mother in Juneau and she stayed isolated. Before traveling back to Haines with the Carters’ other two children, she took a test in Juneau and tested positive four days later. The public health nurse advised Webster to isolate in the Carters’ home. They had a master bedroom with an attached bathroom that allowed Webster to stay quarantined.
“My mom had not gone anywhere in Haines except getting off the plane the same day she took the test. Only close contact were me and Mike and the two girls because we were the only ones in the house with her for longer than fifteen minutes.”
Carter said her mother watched a lot of television and read. None of the other family members developed symptoms.
Statewide, COVID-19 cases began a sharp rise in October and the state has reported more than 300 cases a day since the end of October.