Lawmakers receive guidance on policies to protect the health of Alaskans
JUNEAU – As COVID-19 begins to take hold in Alaska, the House State Affairs Committee heard testimony
yesterday from experts on the spread of infectious diseases to help guide legislators on the policies needed to keep Alaskans safe.
“The message we received from experts is that the spread of COVID-19 can be contained, but it requires action now,” said
Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins,
Co-Chair of the House State Affairs Committee (D-Sitka). “Every Alaskan needs to treat social distancing with urgency, and those who have recently traveled must self-isolate.”
The Committee heard from Dr. Nirav Shah of Stanford University and modeler/mathematician Tomas Pueyo, as well as Alaska testifiers.
The
full hearing can be viewed here.
Dr. Shah and Mr. Pueyo testimony occurs first in the hearing. Mr. Pueyo published an
article analyzing the spread of COVID that has received widespread acclaim,
been translated into 28 languages, and been viewed 37 million times in the last week.
“All expert recommendations highlight the importance of testing for planning an informed response to COVID-19”
said Representative Zack Fields, Co-Chair of the House State Affairs Committee (D-Anchorage). “The State of Alaska must do everything possible to rapidly ramp up its testing capacity, as Alaska and all of the U.S. is far behind other countries around
the world.”
