There is a misunderstanding that politics is always a negative thing that stops people from doing work. But the truth is that politics is also a form of communication, and it becomes vitally important during uncertain times.
Print article Back in November, with COVID-19 cases surging and the state’s contact tracing corps overwhelmed, officials implored people testing positive to reach out on their own to the people they might have infected. But, now Alaska’s contact tracing effort is rebounding after several months of hiring and several weeks of decreased daily cases. At the moment, once contact tracers are notified of the new positive, they’ll reach out within the day, said
Tim Struna, who heads up the section of public health nursing for Alaska.
It takes on average statewide around three days between the time someone might pull into a drive-through testing site and get their nose swabbed to when a contact tracer calls them.
This past fall, I called attention to the presence of invisible hope that exists among residents of East Winston that belies the recognizable challenges brought about by generational poverty and