Travelers who have been fully vaccinated for COVID-19 are no longer encouraged to test before they enter Haines. On Tuesday, the Haines Borough Emergency Operations Center (EOC) issued a new set of recommendations for travelers.
“We’re trying to encourage vaccination, and trying to start loosening the strings a bit,” EOC incident commander Carolann Wooton said.
Until Tuesday, the borough had recommended travelers test twice for coronavirus when entering the community—once up to 72 hours before traveling and once 5-7 days after entering. Travelers were encouraged to observe strict social distancing until they received the second negative test. Travelers who elected not to test, were encouraged to quarantine for 14 days.
The new borough recommendations distinguish between those who have been vaccinated and those who haven’t.
Those who are at least two weeks out from their second shot and haven’t been in close contact with someone with COVID-19, can move about the community, observing the same COVID-19 protocol as those who haven’t traveled, according to a flowchart Wooton presented at Tuesday’s assembly meeting. Travelers who are vaccinated and have been in close contact with a COVID-19 patient are encouraged to test which would provide the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) more data.
Unvaccinated travelers are encouraged to test up to 72 hours before entering Haines, but aren’t encouraged to test a second time unless they were recently in a high-exposure setting like a public gathering. Travelers entering Haines without proof of a negative test taken within 72 hours are encouraged to test twice—upon arrival and again after 5-7 days. They are asked to observe strict social distancing while waiting for both test results.
Wooton said a number of factors played into the decision to revise borough recommendations including the state’s reduced case count, the community’s high vaccination rate, a desire to open up to visitors this summer, and recent changes in the state’s COVID-19 policies.
On Feb.14, Alaska’s COVID-19 disaster declaration lapsed after both the legislature and Gov. Mike Dunleavy declined to take action to extend it. Dunleavy said without the declaration, state mandates like the requirement that travelers enter Alaska with a negative COVID-19 test have become “advisories.”
Wooton said the hope is the new policies will give people an incentive to get vaccinated. The community currently has a high vaccination rate, with 1,106 having received at least one dose of the vaccine and 861 having received both doses, according to the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) website.
“We’re trying to take the onus away from asymptomatic testing,” Wooton said.
This is because SEARHC has said it plans to reduce asymptomatic testing options in the future. Haines Health Center clinic administrator Stephanie Pattison said the EOC discussed the revised travel recommendations with her.
“I mentioned that eventually we are going to be moving away from asymptomatic testing,” Pattison said. She said funding for asymptomatic testing is dwindling. In late 2020, SEARHC ended its free, asymptomatic testing program in Haines after it ran through grant money set aside for the purpose.
Pattison declined to comment directly on whether there’s enough evidence to support reduced testing requirements for those who are vaccinated. Health officials say the answer to whether the vaccines prevent the transmission of COVID-19 is still an open question, although there is growing evidence that suggests they are at least somewhat effective at reducing transmission. In mid-February, the CDC updated its policy for close contacts of positive COVID-19 cases, saying individuals who have been fully vaccinated don’t need to quarantine.
Pattison said it’s difficult to say definitively what the best testing policy is. “With testing, it’s just a snapshot in time—Are you shedding at the moment you’re being tested?”
She said moving forward, the best protection for the community will be to continue observing COVID-19 protocol.
“Proper hand hygiene, social distancing, masking, keeping social circles small, that is still our gold standard,” Pattison said. She said the community appears to have been fairly successful at this so far, noting that there have been no documented cases of influenza in almost a year.
At Tuesday’s assembly meeting, Wooton said in light of the community’s high vaccination rate and low case numbers throughout the region, the EOC has lowered the community’s risk level to “green,” the lowest level.