Highlights from an October 2020 panel survey of Anchorage residents.
Faculty from UAA, including ISER’s Katie Cueva, have been working since the spring to describe the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on individual behavior, inform policy decisions, and predict case counts and contact tracing workforce needs.
Their work includes white papers and surveys of Anchorage residents. These provide insights and recommendations the city can use when making policy decisions and when communicating to residents about how to stay healthy during the pandemic.
The most recent survey report, published November 13, notes that the next few weeks will be critical for maintaining public health and health care capacity in Anchorage. It also noted that survey respondents reporting good or very good morale was down from 80% in July to 60% in October.
Additional findings:
- Since the end of July, most respondents reported wearing a mask most or all of the time when not at home (about 87%)
During the October 21-23 survey, most respondents reported they:
- would support a modified or abbreviated “hunker down” order to curb increasing COVID-19 rates (62%)
- were willing to get the COVID-19 vaccine once it becomes available (70%)
- were not likely to travel outside Alaska for the holidays (over 90%)
- were not likely to attend/host a gathering for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or the New Year (over 60%)
The State of Alaska’s Department of Health and Human Services has also referenced findings of a research team that Dr. Cueva is a part of, most recently related to the benefits of early isolation upon COVID-19 infection. In the September 2020 Tracer Analyses for the State of Alaska, Katie Cueva, Lisa Bulkow and Elaina Milton calculate that ten times fewer Alaskans will get COVID-19 if infected individuals isolate themselves within 6 days instead of 8 days.
Dr. Cueva has been able to share some of these results with other Arctic nations. In October, the University of Greenland invited her to join a panel of circumpolar researchers and stakeholders to discuss “Lessons learned from Covid-19 across the Arctic.” Additional panelists represented Greenland and Canada. She’s also been invited to share her perspective on COVID-19 in Alaska at the annual meeting of the Danish Greenlandic Society for Circumpolar Health.
“Since the first cases of the COVID-19 pandemic in Alaska, it’s been all hands on deck, even while juggling working from home and suddenly homeschooling,” said Cueva. “I’m grateful that I’ve been able to help with efforts to address the pandemic, have fantastic colleagues to work with, and an awesome family that supports me. Looking globally, rising case counts and hospitalizations aren’t inevitable – if we follow the science, support people to be able to change their behavior, we can keep Alaskans safe.”
