Masks wonât be required at Fairbanks North Star Borough facilities, except for the bus system, for vaccinated people after June 1, according to a Friday afternoon announcement from the borough.
Masks will continue to be required on the boroughâs Metropolitan Area Commuter System in accordance with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency relaxed public health guidance for vaccinated people last week, but not for people riding public planes, trains and buses. On public transportation, everyone is required to continue to mask up, even vaccinated people.
No vaccination proof will be requested of unmasked people at borough facilities, such as the Mary Siah Recreation Center or the Juanita Helms Borough Administration Center, according to a statement from Mayor Bryce Ward.
Design documents show the pending new transit garage to be built on Lathrop Street will be almost 57,000 square feet and will have a locker room, conference room, laundry area, showers, offices, supply rooms and 10 bus repair bays.
The $28.1 million project of the Fairbanks North Star Borough is in the early design phase. Design documents by Design Alaska were obtained by the News-Miner via a public records request.
The two-story building, with a mezzanine, will be 60 feet tall with an outdoor patio, two gravel storage yards and a bus washing area. It will be the new home of the Metropolitan Area Commuter System or MACS.
KETCHIKAN (KDN) â The Ketchikan Emergency Operations Center on Friday counted six new positive COVID-19 test results as the number of active cases in the community dropped to 76, according to an evening press release. Three individuals were determined to be close contacts to known positive cases, one case was related to a congregate setting facility, and two of the cases remain under investigation, the EOC statement read.
According to the EOC dashboard on Friday, three virus cases have been connected to a congregate setting facility in the past seven days. Of the pending cases from May 20, one was determined to be a close contact, three were determined to be community spread, and one remains under investigation, the release noted.
The Covid-19 virus transmission keeps slowing down in Fairbanks and statewide, with Alaska going into intermediate â or orange â statewide alert status, according to state health experts.
âThatâs a big milestone,â State Epidemiologist Joe McLaughlin said during Thursdayâs news conference. âWeâre very excited to see these case counts continue to decrease.â
The alert status is based on the average daily case rate over two weeks, with the intermediate level meaning that between 4.8 and 10 cases are transmitted per 100,000 people.
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The state of the virus
Yesterday alone, the state reported 78 cases, 15 of them in Fairbanks North Star Borough. Delta Junction reported three cases on Thursday, while Denali Borough reported three positive Covid cases during the past week.