FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Clinton Bennett, DHSS, 907-269-4996, clinton.bennett@alaska.gov
Alaska's new travel protocols will conserve resources, increase testing for Alaskans and help prevent the spread of COVID-19
August 6, 2020 ANCHORAGE— Revised State of Alaska travel protocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and conserve testing resources will take effect next Tuesday, August 11 at 12:01 a.m. The revised State of Alaska Health Mandate 10 and a FAQ will be posted online later today at covid19.alaska.gov.
The mandate applies to all travelers arriving into Alaska, no matter how they enter the state. Children under 11 will continue to be exempt from testing requirements.
The most significant revision to the mandate is that nonresident travelers may no longer obtain a COVID-19 test for free upon arrival into Alaska at the state’s airport testing sites. Nonresidents will also no longer have the option for a 5-day pretest or the option to self-quarantine for 14 days after arriving into the state.
Instead, nonresidents must now test before traveling to Alaska. They must take a qualifying test 72 hours before they depart and either show proof of a negative result at arrival, or quarantine until results are received and submitted. Nonresident travelers who arrive without proof of the 72 hour pretest will be required to pay $250 per test to be tested at an airport testing site.
Testing will continue to be provided at no cost at airport testing sites to Alaska residents traveling into the state. Testing at airport sites will also now be opened up for Alaska residents traveling within the state to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 between Alaska’s communities.
Under the revised mandate, both resident and nonresident travelers will also now be required to fill out a three-question self-isolation plan in the Alaska Travel Portal, detailing how they plan to isolate if they test positive for COVID-19 while in Alaska. In addition, the mandate clearly explains how all travelers into the state are required to practice strict social distancing for 14 days after arriving into Alaska, or until a second negative result is obtained from a molecular-based SARS-CoV2 test taken between 7-14 days after arriving into Alaska.
“These revisions are intended to prioritize and conserve our resources to prevent the spread of COVID-19 while still allowing travel to occur,” Alaska Department of Health and Social Services Commissioner Adam Crum. “Travel is essential to Alaska’s well-being but by strongly incentivizing testing before travel for nonresidents, we expect to reduce the number of travelers who test positive for COVID-19 after arriving into our state. This will allow us to direct resources to where they are needed most, and will also allow us to offer testing for intrastate travelers to help protect our rural communities.”
For all travelers (resident and nonresident):
For nonresident travelers:
For Alaska resident travelers:
For critical infrastructure employees:
More information will be posted at covid19.alaska.gov as soon as it becomes available. You can preview the new Alaska Travel Portal at alaska.covidsecureapp.com.
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