This story originally published in the Peninsula Clarion.

Local restaurateurs, hotel owners and tour operators are feeling uncertain about the 2020 tourism season, which normally begins at the end of April in Alaska.

The 2020 summer season is a major concern for the Kenai Peninsula Tourism Marketing Council, Executive Director Debbie Speakman said.

She said hotels and lodges have already seen cancellations and a standstill in bookings has business owners worried about their summer season. Speakman said the industry is encouraging travelers to postpone their trips rather than cancel altogether.

Mike Flores owns four tourism companies, Ninilchik Charters, Seward Fishing Club, Alaska Destinations and Soaring Eagle Lodge. He said some of his customers have already moved their trips up to 2021. He said he doesn’t plan on laying off any staff.
“Even if we’re not fishing, we have other work,” Flores said.

He’s waiting until April 25 to make a decision on whether or not he limits operations in May and June. Despite all this, Flores said he’s still hopeful.

Speakman and others all said they’ve noticed guests holding out for a trip later in the summer. They have noticed people aren’t canceling trips later in the summer, like in late July and August. Flores said at his lodge, guests who booked in late summer are “holding tight” to their reservations.

This summer, tourism businesses on the Kenai Peninsula will have an additional hurdle to overcome, with many local businesses hoping to bounce back after the 2019 Swan Lake Fire interrupted traffic to the peninsula and filled communities with smoke during peak tourism season.

“My big fear for our area is — last year we had a fire and cancellations, so people are already at 50 percent,” Speakman said. “They could still pay their employees. Now compound (this global pandemic). My fear is that a lot of people may not recover. I’m afraid a lot of people will not be able to weather the storm.”

Flores said the Swan Lake Fire “threw us into the red” more than $200,000.

“We stomached the loss, but now we may have more losses (this summer),” Flores said.
Flores submitted paperwork for disaster assistance to the Small Business Administration this week.

“We’re going to need assistance to stay afloat,” he said.

A large part of Alaska’s tourism industry is the cruise industry, which brings a million visitors to the state every year, Speakman said. Cruise ships would normally begin filling the small towns of Southeast Alaska at the end of April. On the peninsula, Seward was expecting its first ship to dock May 5 and in Homer May 12.

Citing concerns about COVID-19, Canada has closed all of its ports to cruises until July. Many Alaska cruises begin at the Seattle Port, which announced an indefinite closure of the port to cruises on Tuesday.

“The Port now expects the launch of the cruise season will be delayed until the resolution of the public health emergency,” a March 24 release from the port said.

This story published in the Peninsula Clarion.

Springtime is a time for local governments to work on the next year’s budget, and despite a global pandemic, the Kenai Peninsula Borough staff is working on the fiscal year 2021 budget.

Mayor Charlie Pierce — who has quarantined himself at home since arriving in Alaska after an out-of-state trip a week ago — told the Clarion Thursday that the borough’s budget will take an “unanticipated hit” because of the new coronavirus.

Pierce said his administration is evaluating what impacts COVID-19 will have. Pierce said the borough could experience a 30-60% “negative impact” in sales tax revenue because of the global pandemic. He said the borough is in the process of developing better projections as information becomes available.

Over the last several years, Pierce said there’s been a “considerable amount of effort” to contain costs in the borough to bring the budget down. He said the borough is currently sitting on approximately $26.9 million in fund balance. That number could drop to $16 million by the end of next fiscal year, he said.

Borough staff are working from home and those in the office are practicing guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including keeping desks physically 6 feet apart and sanitizing surfaces, Pierce said.

Pierce said he hopes the state can come through with a stimulus package and encouraged people to be patient and follow rules set in place by the CDC and state government.

“It’s not worth picking up exposure to (COVID-19),” Pierce said. “Stay hunkered down until health care providers give indication it’s safe. This could be an extended and lengthy shutdown.”

Residents have to rely on each other, friends and neighbors, Pierce said.
“These are trying times,” Pierce said. “It’s very challenging for all of us.”

This story originally published in the Peninsula Clarion.

As Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced the state’s first case of COVID-19 — a disease caused by a coronavirus that emerged in late 2019 in China — the University of Alaska system and Kenai Peninsula Borough School District both announced Thursday that they would be extending their spring break by another week.

All 42 schools on the Kenai Peninsula will be closed between March 16-20, “to assist with flattening the infection curve, social distancing, and slowing the COVID-19 spread in our diverse communities,” a press release from the district said.

District staff will receive an update about when to report to work by the end of the day Friday. Updates about the district’s response to the new coronavirus can be found on their dedicated district webpage at http://www.kpbsd.k12.ak.us.

The University of Alaska system announced a series of measures in response to COVID-19, including extending spring break by another week, suspending in-person classes and asking resident students to vacate student housing.

Spring break is being extended one week and classes will resume March 23, with most courses being offered through “alternative” methods. Some expectations will be made to hands-on courses and labs. The alternative and online delivery of university courses could extend through the end of the semester in May. These measures are being put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

“Few exceptions will be made,” UA President Jim Johnsen said in a Thursday press conference.

Gary Turner, director of Kenai Peninsula College, said staff at KPC will work next week to determine which classes will continue face-to-face. The spring break extension gives staff time to convert their classes into distance learning classes.

“There will be some (course) expectations,” Turner said. “What they all will be at this point, we don’t know. Some of the labs you can not do via distance.”

Students were scheduled to return Monday, but are now being asked to return to their courses, on March 23, most likely through an online course. On Monday, Turner said staff will hang signs on doors and stand by to alert students that classes are not in session.

“There’s going to be a lot of disappointment, a lot of questions,” Turner said. “It’s going to be a very challenging time. It’s the right thing to do, in my opinion. We have to err on the side of caution. The way the virus is rapidly evolving we have to think about the safety of our students and staff.”

University faculty and staff are expected to come back to work as scheduled on Monday unless they are showing symptoms for COVID-19 or are returning from countries experiencing an outbreak.

Students in residence halls are being asked to move out by March 17. Students will be able to retrieve their personal belongings before then, Johnsen said. Some students will be able to stay in residence halls and exceptions may be made for international students, students from rural Alaska or students who do not have an alternative place to stay.
On the Kenai Peninsula College campus, there are 15 students and six residence assistants living in the residence hall.

For students who do not have access to computers, a laptop, or internet connection, the university is planning to keep computer labs open.

“We are aware that not all students have their own equipment so we will be allowing access to computer labs, but exercising social distancing,” University of Alaska Anchorage Chancellor Cathy Sandeen said in Thursday’s press conference. “So, we may have fewer work stations in rooms to make that happen and we will certainly go in and clean the equipment and the rooms more frequently during this time.”

The University of Alaska System is also canceling all events with 25 people or more, effective through the end of the month. University travel will also be suspended. Johnsen said campuses are being cleaned thoroughly as well.  Plans for spring commencement are “to be determined,” Johnsen said.

“It’s a tough situation,” Johnsen said. “We are trying to make our way through a very risky possibility if this virus comes to Alaska and if this virus comes to the university. The impact of that would be very, very difficult for us to manage. We do have plans for managing it, but it would be extremely disruptive. On the other hand, we haven’t seen any cases yet.”

Shortly after the university system made their announcements, Anchorage School District announced they would be extending their spring break by another week too.
Impact on tourism

Preventive measures were also announced this week by members of Alaska’s cruise ship industry. Two cruise lines, Princess Cruises and Viking Ocean Cruises, have suspended service. Princess Cruises announced Thursday they are suspending services for 60 days, and all sailings before May 11 are cancelled. Viking Ocean Cruises announced Wednesday they are resuming their operations May 1.

The Viking Orion was set to leave Vancouver April 26 and arrive in Ketchikan April 28, Sitka April 29 and Juneau April 30.

Other cruise lines that frequent Alaska, like Holland America Line, Carnival Cruise Line and Norwegian Cruise Line, have issued advisories and boosted their passenger screening process.

Alaska’s first cruise of the season, the Carnival Spirit, is set to leave Vancouver, Canada, and dock April 22 in Tracy Arm near Juneau.

The first cruises to set sail for the Kenai Peninsula are Viking Ocean Cruises, set to dock in Seward May 5-7. In Homer, Holland America Cruises is set to dock May 12 and then Princess Cruises shortly after on May 15. Whittier’s first ship will be from Princess Cruise docking on May 16.

There are 1,215 cases across the U.S. in 43 other states and 36 total deaths, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. World Health Organization named the COVID-19 disease a global pandemic. The last global pandemic was in 2009 when H1N1, a novel influenza A virus, spread across the U.S. and then the world, according to the CDC. COVID-19 is a relative of the SARS and MERS viruses, which have caused outbreaks in the past. Symptoms for the disease include fever, runny nose, cough and breathing trouble. The elderly and those with weakened immune systems are particularly vulnerable to the disease.

This story originally published in the Peninsula Clarion.

The state and borough are preparing for the potential arrival of COVID-19, a disease caused by a member of the coronavirus family that first appeared in late 2019 in Wuhan, China, and has since spread to countries around the world.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy and the state health department gave updates on the state’s preparedness for the virus during a Monday press conference. There are currently no cases in Alaska. However, three Alaskans have been tested, Dr. Anne Zink, the state’s chief medical officer, said in the Monday press conference. She said testing began Thursday. Two of those tests came back negative and one test is still pending.

Zink said it’s “highly likely” Alaska will see its first case soon.

Dunleavy said his administration has been meeting twice a week since mid-January to plan for the potential arrival of the virus.

“We believe Alaska is prepared to deal with this issue, as well or better than any state,” Dunleavy said in the conference.

Dunleavy announced he will be asking the Legislature to approve $9 million in funding assistance from the federal government and $4 million from the state general fund to fund five nurses to travel and educate residents in rural Alaska on best practices to avoid contracting the virus.

Zink urged Alaskans to stop touching their face, clean surfaces and wash their hands. If someone is feeling unwell, she said, they should stay home from school or work, cover their mouth and nose when they cough and sneeze and to generally take care of themselves.

She said elderly, disabled and those with underlying heart and lung conditions are the most vulnerable.

With the Iditarod start nearing, Zink said she’s briefed the organization on traveling and how to stay healthy.

Zink also reassured residents that there is no evidence that the virus is living on cargo traveling to and through Alaska.

“You can open your Amazon boxes and not be afraid,” Zink said.

On Friday, the Kenai Peninsula Borough Office of Emergency Management issued a statement on its website, letting residents know the borough is monitoring the virus and is making preparedness plans. Borough officials are refining their plans to make sure essential services continue if the virus comes to the peninsula, the statement said. During the month of March, the borough will be asking cities, port officials, hospitals, tribal entities and non-government agencies to come together to refine existing pandemic plans, identify and resolve potential gaps in those plans, and to involve representatives from the whole community in the process.

The borough does not have public health powers, and will be asking the state to assist them, as the situation evolves, the statement said.

COVID-19 is a relative of the SARS and MERS viruses, which have caused outbreaks in the past. Symptoms for the disease include fever, runny nose, cough and breathing trouble.