COVID Mitigation Message from Lt. Gen. Krumm

Photo By Senior Airman Samuel Colvin | U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. David Krumm, the Alaskan North American Aerospace Defense Command Region, Alaskan Command and Eleventh Air Force commander, is checked out by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Amber Drewer, a 673d Operational Medical Readiness Squadron independent duty medical technician, after receiving the first of a two-dose series of the vaccine at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, Jan. 4, 2021. Upon receiving the initial shipment of the vaccine, JBER began inoculating personnel following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's prioritization guidelines. The vaccines are part of Operation Warp Speed, a national initiative to accelerate the development, production and distribution of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics.  

AK, UNITED STATES

09.17.2021

Story by Lt. Gen. David A. Krumm 

Alaskan NORAD Region/Alaskan Command/11th Air Force

To our DoD members and their families here in Alaska, I need your help in our war against COVID. According to the CDC, Alaska is one of the top 5 states for COVID transmission and right now the enemy is surging, particularly in the Anchorage and Mat-Su Valley areas, and we have to counterattack. The proven COVID mitigation strategies of wearing masks, social distancing and getting vaccinated have kept our retransmission rates low on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. Unfortunately, the lack of mitigation measures off-base has resulted in alarmingly high infection rates, hospitalizations and deaths in our community. Current COVID cases on JBER have not yet reached the point of jeopardizing our readiness, but they are rising, and our data is that off-base exposure is the primary source of infection for our service members and their families.

I am very concerned with the risk of COVID exposure to our service members and families off-base given the number of COVID cases currently overwhelming our local medical facilities. The ability to provide medical services to both military and civilian personnel is at a serious tipping point. While we still have adequate on-base medical capacity, our people rely on both on and off-base medical services. Thus, we must do whatever we can to minimize the spread of COVID to preserve these resources for the community as a whole. This includes doing everything we can to protect, and keep safe from infection, the vulnerable individuals who may require those medical services that are currently at capacity.

The JBER installation commander will be declaring HPCON Bravo and issuing a Public Health Emergency declaration due to the worsening situation in Anchorage and the Mat-Su Valley. While there will be no additional restrictions implemented immediately, if the level of hospitalizations and infections do not stabilize or improve, we will have to consider additional measures to protect the force. These measures may include placing off-base facilities off limits. In the interim, I ask our military members and their families to avoid entering—as much as possible—off base establishments and facilities that do not require the use of a mask, appropriate physical distancing, and other COVID mitigation measures. By implementing these precautions now, as COVID rates are at a peak, we expect to see a decline over the coming weeks.

We must do our part to protect the mission and our community and help prevent further spread of the virus. Let’s get after it.

• Date Taken: 09.17.2021
• Date Posted: 09.17.2021 17:40
• Story ID: 405547
• Location: AK, US