Print article We're making this important information available without a subscription as a public service. But we depend on reader support to do this work. Please consider supporting independent journalism in Alaska, at just $1.99 for the first month of your subscription. Mat-Su schools are pausing all activities through Sunday due to rapidly accelerating numbers of COVID-19 cases linked to sports and other events. At one school alone, officials say, public health workers have identified 180 people as potential close contacts, all linked to athletics. Mat-Su was the state’s largest district to start the year offering in-person learning for all but a two-week period in November, when officials shifted to online only due to high teacher absence rates and overwhelmed contact tracers.