Print article Alaska on Sunday became one of two states in the United States without a formal COVID-19 public health disaster declaration and the only state without any disaster-related provisions, at least right now. The physically isolated and medically fragile state is also seeing a sharp reduction in coronavirus cases. But without the declaration, everything from hospital coronavirus treatment units to space for large vaccination clinics is in limbo, observers say. In place since March, it provided legal backing for state health orders, as well as flexibilities to respond to the virus and deliver vaccine to Alaskans. “Alaska is definitely in uncharted territory here,” said Emily Ford, government relations director with Providence Alaska Medical Center, the state’s largest hospital in Anchorage.