A resident from the North Slope Borough has tested positive for COVID-19. This is the first positive case in the region.
According to a release from the Arctic Slope Native Association, the patient had been tested at the Samuel Simmonds Memorial Hospital in Utqiagvik on May 22. The patient had been in Anchorage, before traveling to Utqiagvik and then on to their home community. For the patient’s privacy, the name of the community was withheld.
Samuel Simmonds Hospital is preparing a team of medical officials to go to the patient’s community to provide testing to anyone who may have come in contact with the individual.
While this is the first case for a resident of the North Slope, a BP worker at Prudhoe Bay tested positive for the virus in March.
The case is one of more than 400 positive cases of COVID-19 across Alaska.
This is a developing story and may be updated when new information becomes available.
