**COVID-19 HEALTH MANDATE**

Issued: March 27, 2020

By: Governor Mike Dunleavy
Commissioner Adam Crum, Alaska Department of Health and Social Services
Dr. Anne Zink, Chief Medical Officer, State of Alaska

To prevent the spread of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), the State of Alaska is issuing its twelfth health mandate based on its authority under the Public Health Disaster Emergency Declaration signed by Governor Mike Dunleavy on March 11, 2020.

Given the increasing concern for new cases of COVID-19 being transmitted via community spread within the state, Governor Dunleavy and the State of Alaska are issuing the following mandate to go into effect March 28, 2020 at 8:00 am and will be reevaluated by April 11, 2020.

This mandate is issued to protect the public health of Alaskans. The Governor looks to establish consistent mandates across the State in order to mitigate the impact of COVID-19. The goal is to flatten the curve and disrupt the spread of the virus.

The purpose of this mandate is to control the movement of individuals within Alaska in order to prevent, slow, and otherwise disrupt the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19.

The State of Alaska and the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) acknowledge the importance of minimizing intrastate travel to avoid introducing new COVID-19 cases into Alaska communities and slow the spread of the virus in state. It is imperative that Alaskans heed these guidelines.

Critical infrastructure is vital to keeping Alaska safe, and as a result businesses and employees of critical infrastructure industries must, to the extent reasonably feasible, take reasonable care to protect their staff and operations during this pandemic. If your business is included in “Alaska’s Essential Services and Critical Infrastructure” (formerly Attachment A), you must submit a travel plan or protocol for maintaining critical infrastructure to [email protected]. The plan should outline how you will avoid the spread of COVID-19 and not endanger the lives of the communities in which you operate, of others who serve as a part of that infrastructure, or the ability of that critical infrastructure to function. If you have already submitted a plan pursuant to Health Mandate 10.1 related to interstate travel, you do not need to submit another plan.

Critical infrastructure includes those items listed in “Alaska’s Essential Services and Critical Infrastructure” (formerly Attachment A) https://gov.alaska.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/03232020-COVID-19-Health-Mandate-010-Attachment-A.pdf

Health Mandate 012 – Intrastate Travel – Limiting travel between communities to critical infrastructure or critical personal needs.

Effective 8:00 am March 28, 2020

All in-state travel between communities, whether resident, worker, or visitor, is prohibited unless travel is to support critical infrastructure, or for critical personal needs. Certain Small Alaskan communities may implement further travel restriction pursuant to “Alaska Small Community Emergency Travel Order - Attachment B.”

Personal travel is prohibited except as necessary to meet critical personal needs or work in critical infrastructure jobs. Critical personal needs include buying, selling, or delivering groceries and home goods; obtaining fuel for vehicles or residential needs; transporting family members for out-of-home care, essential health needs, or for purposes of child custody exchanges; receiving essential health care; providing essential health care to a family member; obtaining other important goods; and engaging in subsistence activities. Travelers are reminded to follow social distancing measures, including, to the extent reasonably feasible, keeping six feet away from others, avoiding crowded places, and limiting public gatherings to less than ten people. Read the “Mandate 11 and 12 FAQ’s” for more details.

No one traveling to or from any community for critical reasons or critical personal travel may be subject to any automatic quarantine or isolation on arrival except as allowed under Alaska Statutes or Health Mandates.
Air carriers and other travel-related businesses have no duty to verify that intrastate travelers meet the criteria for permissible travel under this heath mandate. Air carriers shall inquire if travelers are permitted to travel under this mandate and shall rely upon a traveler’s assurance that they are eligible to travel.

***This Mandate supersedes any local government or tribal mandate, directive, or order restricting intrastate travel ***

Instructions:

Personal travel is prohibited except as necessary to meet critical personal needs or work in critical infrastructure jobs. Critical personal needs include buying, selling, or delivering groceries and home goods; obtaining fuel for vehicles or residential needs; transporting family members for out-of-home care, essential health needs, or for purposes of child custody exchanges; receiving essential health care; providing essential health care to a family member; obtaining other important goods; and engaging in subsistence activities.