Alaska ferry crew in Bellingham tested for COVID-19 after passenger tests positive
Crew on the Alaska ferry Matanuska are being tested in Bellingham on Friday, Aug. 14, after a passenger came down with COVID-19 on an earlier trip.
The ship was docked at the Bellingham Cruise Terminal on Friday as part of its scheduled stop in this area. It is scheduled to depart Friday evening, but the timeline for that departure was unknown as of 2 p.m. on Friday while awaiting testing results, said Sam Dapcevich, public information officer for the Alaska Marine Highway System.
According to a news release, a passenger boarded the Matanuska on Monday, Aug. 10, in Kake, Alaska, arriving in Juneau at 11 p.m. local time. The Matanuska continued on its trip, heading south to Bellingham and arriving on Friday. The passenger alerted the marine highway system on Aug. 13 that they had tested positive for the respiratory disease.
While still under investigation, the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services has not identified any close contacts among other passengers or crew, but they are notifying the public out of an abundance of caution.
The Alaska health service is recommending that recent travelers on the Matanuska monitor themselves for symptoms and take extra care to follow COVID-19 precautions when around other people.
This story was originally published August 14, 2020 at 2:35 PM.
