About: admin

State of Alaska Covid-19 Response

Dear UFA Members and Friends,

As we all try to comprehend the magnitude of Covid-19, please be assured that UFA is closely monitoring the evolving situation.  We are actively engaged on the issue at the state and federal level and we will continue to provide you with information as soon as we get it.

Last night, Governor Dunleavy issued a Health Mandate for the State of Alaska.

Please see the clarifying information below regarding the Governor’s Health Mandate 10.

Health Mandate 10: The Governor’s Health Mandate directs: “All people arriving in Alaska, whether resident, worker or visitor, are required to self-quarantine for 14 days and monitor for illness. Arriving residents and workers in self-quarantine, should work from home, unless you support critical infrastructure (see Attachment A).[…] If your business is included in Attachment A, and your workers must travel to enter Alaska, you must submit a plan or protocol for maintaining critical infrastructure to the Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development by 3:00 p.m. March 24**, outlining how you will avoid the spread of COVID-19 and not endanger the lives of the communities in which you operate, of others who serve as a part of that infrastructure or the ability of that critical infrastructure to function.”

Plan Format: We will accept any plan or format your company already has developed. Once submitted, it will be reviewed for compliance and we will address any shortfalls during the approval process. At a minimum, your businesses plan must address how you handle on-boarding employees, and measures to protect the rest of your workforce and the surrounding community.  Attached are two possible formats. They were developed by private sector health consultants, and are not endorsed by the State of Alaska, but they do meet the minimum requirements. If your business does not already have a plan, you are welcome to use these formats. For additional resource on developing plans, please visit: https://discoveryhealthmd.com/coronavirus-corner/.

Self-Quarantine: All workers arriving in the State must follow the 14-day self-quarantine guidance. If your business meets the definitions of critical infrastructure workers, you may put them to worker immediate, provided that you have an approved Community/Workforce Protective Plan and that you enact the protective measures in your plan to safeguard the surrounding community and the remainder of your workforce from the newly arrived workers. The intent is that, to the greatest extent possible, workers will self-quarantine at their final destination in Alaska in order to reduce the risk of infection during onward travel. In cases where this is not possible for some reason, you would need to identify the reason and what the company’s alternate plan is for self-quarantine.

Submission of Plans: Businesses that have workers traveling to enter Alaska before May 1, 2020 need to submit by 15:00 AKDT this afternoon. Businesses that will not have workers travel to enter Alaska before May 1, 2020 may submit plans at this time, or at a later date. Businesses should submit their plans to the Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development at AlaskaDevelopment@alaska.gov. If you cannot make that deadline, please submit it as soon as possible, however the approval may be impacted for plans received after 15:00. 3pm today.

Applicability to Shipping Vehicles, Aircraft and Vessels:  Shipping companies and retailers must submit on behalf of your individual truckers and aircrews. Your plan should include what self-quarantine measures that driver or crew will follow (staying on the truck/ship, remaining overnight in a hotel, etc.) and what measures will be used at the loading dock (for trucks arriving at a store) to minimize risk of community spread.

Applicability to Fishing Vessels: For now, parent companies should submit on behalf of their crews and implement measures for vessel crews to follow. Further guidance on this may be published at a later date.

Please contact Thomas Koloski at  thomas.koloski@alaska.gov or (540) 273-9255, for questions.

** UFA recognizes the deadline the state set is short and may have already passed by the time you read this.  We encourage you to still send in actions plans, even after the deadline.

FORMS:

Covid-19 Pandemic Action Plan Template (Word)

Covid-19 Pandemic Action Plan Template (PDF)

State of Alaska Department of Health & Social Services Travel Declaration Form

Traveler Handout

 >> Read More