Alaska Corrects Definition of "Copper River" In Data Hub Presentation

Finally! 

DHSS Adds "Copper River" Statistics To Data Hub Presentation 

Special to the Country Journal: Copyright © David Mudrick, 2020

The Alaska Department of Health & Social Services, Coronavirus Response Data Hub Presentation has added two new breakouts to the "Valdez-Cordova Census Area." 

For the first time, on Saturday, December 19th, the state introduced a new definition of the Valdez-Cordova Census Area. The new breakout has four parts: Cordova, Other Chugach, Other Copper River, and Valdez. This will make it much easier to see trends and to make informed decisions on school openings, community comparisons, and safety matters. 

Up until now, the census area was broken out into three sections: Cordova, Valdez and "Other." The problem was that the "Other" section included both the Copper River communities, Whittier and other Chugach communities. This made it difficult to determine how many cases, new cases, hospitalizations and deaths were occurring, for both Whittier and Copper Valley organizations. 

CRNA has been trying to help Copper Valley residents have a more accurate estimate of what is happening here by combining the positive case counts from Cross Road Medical Center, Copper River Native Association, and Mount Sanford Tribal Consortium. 

Scott Yahr, from KCAM, first brought this issue up at a news conference several months ago. And last week, the Copper River Country Journal had correspondence with Dr. Anne Zink and the State Bureau of Vital Statistics on the problems caused by the prior longstanding system.