August 5, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 139 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session

[Pages S4896-S4897]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              CORONAVIRUS

  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I appreciate the remarks of my 
colleague, Senator Blunt, and the effort he has made to really focus in 
on how we can ensure there are appropriate levels of testing as we 
respond to this COVID pandemic. We recognize that the technologies, 
treatments, and vaccines are what will get us there.
  In the meantime, there are many men and women across the country who 
are doing extraordinary work responding on the healthcare side, as well 
as responding as we deal with the economic impact and the economic 
fallout due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  There are a lot of challenges--incredible challenges, all over the 
country--challenges to the health sector, to our economy, and to our 
everyday life. I think it is fair to say that the last 6 months have 
been emotionally exhausting for people.
  We have heard this before. We are all ready for COVID-19 to be over, 
but the virus is not ready to be over with us.
  We are adjusting to a new normal, and as we deal with it, I think it 
is important to acknowledge the individuals--really, the heroes--in so 
many of our communities who have saved lives and really provided a 
level of care and compassion throughout it all.
  Like all States in the Nation, Alaska has been severely impacted by 
this pandemic. Last week was a pretty rough week for us. We were 
included among the States with the fastest growing numbers in terms of 
rates of transmission. Fortunately, that seems to be tapering a little 
bit right now but only with very aggressive measures.

  In my hometown of Anchorage, our mayor has resumed the hunker-down 
mode for us in terms of restaurants and bars being closed to indoor 
dining or a recognition that many of the advances we had been able to 
move forward on are now being ratcheted back. There are also additional 
travel restrictions.
  For us, it is a time of year when our communities all over the State 
would be welcoming droves of tourists, all coming to enjoy the best of 
Alaska, but this year, our season is all but eliminated, almost 
nonexistent. Certainly, when it comes to recognizing the volume of 
tourists the cruise industry provides to Alaska, those have all been 
canceled. The flights that people would make to the State have been 
made more difficult by mandatory quarantine for our travelers. It has 
not impacted just the tourism sector; it has impacted the oil industry, 
the service industry, and our fisheries.
  As I mentioned, as difficult as these economic times are, the most 
important thing we all need to be focused on is the health and safety 
of our people.
  I have tremendous appreciation and gratitude for all the healthcare 
workers and the individuals who work to protect Alaskans on a daily 
basis.
  In Alaska, we are extremely fortunate to have our COVID-19 health 
response led by Dr. Anne Zink. She is our State's chief medical 
officer. She, along with her team at the Division of Public Health, has 
been doing a great job under Governor Dunleavy's leadership to 
implement and communicate clear public health guidelines from the 
beginning of this unpredictable event. I think if you have an 
opportunity to meet Dr. Zink, she just projects calm. She projects 
confidence. She projects assurance.
  She has absolutely earned the trust of Alaskans throughout this 
difficult time. She has done so not only because of her demeanor but 
really how she leads. She leads by example in modeling the behavior 
that she is encouraging all Alaskans to follow. She has probably taken 
social distancing and teleworking to a new level, as she teleworks from 
a yurt outside of her family home in Palmer.
  She was able to take a small group of Alaskans to some villages--more 
remote villages in this State with Dr. Eastman from Health and Social 
Services when he came to Alaska. It was at a time when most of these 
communities were very, very reticent--as many still are--to allow 
anyone in from the outside for fear of transmitting the virus. She not 
only led this trip very safely, but then, when she returned to her 
home, she led the example of self-quarantining for 14 days to ensure 
that anything she might have been exposed to was not going to be shared 
with those whom she loved. Her priority has been and continues to be 
flattening the curve, slowing the spread.
  We know in our State that we are just a little more isolated. We are 
more separate. We are more remote. But we know that we are not immune 
from any disease of this type. That is surely evidenced by our history.
  In 1918, when the Spanish flu--the last global pandemic--hit our 
State, more people died per capita in Alaska than almost anywhere else 
in the world. In many of our small and Native villages, 70 percent, 80 
percent of the population was wiped out literally in a few-day period. 
It is hard not to think about that when we face this current pandemic.
  In fact, Alaska was one of the very first States in the country to 
put together a coordinated response to the challenges presented by 
COVID. This was back in January.
  On January 28, there was a chartered plane carrying U.S. consulate 
personnel and citizens from an area of China that had been at the 
center of the outbreak. That plane landed in Anchorage. The passengers 
had to debark the plane in order to refuel. They were moving to 
California.
  We had a situation where there was a pretty quick scramble. Dr. Zink 
led her team, and they were able to mobilize very quickly and very 
efficiently to ensure a safe operation that was successful in ensuring 
the protection and the health and safety of all who were involved. They 
opened up a terminal there at Ted Stevens International Airport. They 
created a quarantine unit that delivered not one but two health 
screenings to over 200 passengers and crew members. It was a pretty 
extraordinary event that they were able to put together in very, very 
short order.
  Those who were part of that said Dr. Zink's comments on this effort 
really reflect her strong leadership.
  Dr. Zink noted:

       It is easy to stay focused on all that we had to do in a 
     short period of time to prepare and respond, but at the end 
     of the day, this mission was about people. It was about 
     American citizens, some of whom were working to serve our 
     country. It was about families, and it was about helping each 
     other in a time of need.

  Dr. Zink has been doing extraordinary work as we have dealt with 
challenging issues as they relate to quarantine after travel, travel 
restrictions around the States that have been extraordinarily limiting.
  She has worked with her team to put together plans of operation and 
protocols so that our fisheries can be successfully prosecuted, and 
they have

[[Page S4897]]

been a mark of success in terms of being able to identify and then 
isolate and then keep the virus from transmitting.
  She is now very, very focused on how we safely return our kids back 
to school. I had a long conversation with her a few days back. She says 
that this is the ultimate challenge in that it is not just how we 
reopen schools but how we keep our schools open after that. That is our 
challenge.
  She shared with me--she said: I thought that putting together the 
plans and the protocols for the seafood processors was going to be 
challenging and difficult in these very remote communities where they 
have limited healthcare in the event that you have the virus spread. 
That was difficult, but getting our schools open and keeping them open 
safely--this is the biggest challenge.
  She said that schools are now her new seafood processors. So she is 
taking up the challenge aggressively.
  Dr. Zink reminds us that at the end of the day, what we have to stay 
focused on is keeping people safe, keeping our families and our workers 
safe. This is a moment about all of us and how we respond during this 
great time of need.
  I am extraordinarily thankful for Dr. Zink's leadership, both out in 
front and behind the scenes as she works with the many extraordinary 
Alaskans who are seeking to make a difference as we take on the daily 
challenges and battles that face us with the COVID-19 response
  With that, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Dakota.

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