“Make no mistake: opening Texas prematurely will only lead to faster Covid spread, more sickness and overcrowding in our hospitals, and unnecessary deaths.” The Republican governor of Texas issued an executive order Tuesday lifting the populous state’s mask mandate and other remaining coronavirus-related restrictions, a move public health experts and Democratic critics characterized as dangerously […]
The United States surpassed 300,000 recorded deaths from COVID-19 Monday — the same day the first American was vaccinated against the coronavirus that causes the disease. The grim number comes about two weeks after millions of Americans defied warnings to avoid travel and gathered with family members for the Thanksgiving holiday. According to the […]
While wandering middle Alaska this summer, I noticed orange spruce trees along the entire length of the Denali Highway, from Paxson to Cantwell. In what looked like a dendrological case of frostbite, tips of every branch were afflicted with something. The real show happened when the wind blew: An entire valley glowed apricot. After […]
July 30, 2020 ANCHORAGE — Alaska’s syphilis outbreak is growing, with cases that more than doubled in 2019 to 2018. “This is the largest number of syphilis cases that we have ever had reported in one year,” said Alaska Department of Health and Social Services HIV/STD Program Manager Susan Jones. Overall, combined rates of syphilis, gonorrhea […]
An international team of scientists has found evidence connecting an unexplained period of extreme cold in ancient Rome with an unlikely source: a massive eruption of Alaska’s Okmok volcano, located on the opposite side of the Earth. Around the time of Julius Caesar’s death in 44 BCE, written sources describe a period of unusual […]
“Trump is exploiting a public health crisis to help an industry known for pumping diseases and antibiotics into oceans.” President Donald Trump issued an executive order late Thursday that environmentalists warned will accelerate the corporate exploitation of oceans by relaxing regulations on and streamlining the construction of industrial offshore aquaculture facilities, which critics deride as “floating […]
WASHINGTON – The top U.S. infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, warned Sunday there is an “extraordinary risk” of the further spread of the ravaging coronavirus if the United States is reopened to business and returned to a sense of normalcy too quickly on May 1, as President Donald Trump is considering. Fauci […]
“I think what we’re seeing in New York City and New York state right now is a real warning to other areas about what may happen or what may already be starting to happen.” A top official with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told The Hill Thursday that the coronavirus outbreak in New York City […]
Dear Friends and Neighbors, The novel coronavirus that first appeared in China in 2019 is now spreading across the United States. I have heard from many people who are worried about the possibility of COVID-19 spreading in Alaska and wanted to provide you with the best information I could on the coronavirus. My […]