Contact tracing is an essential part of combating the spread of Covid-19. Not only do contact tracers work to discover where a person infected with the coronavirus may have contracted it, they also attempt to inform others about possible infection. But there is a lot more to the complicated work that they do. In this episode we’ll be hearing from Annie Thomas. She’s been a nurse for about fifteen years, and currently she is the project manager for the UAA Surge Contact Tracing team. She is also the owner of Managing Me Enterprises which does retreats for teens to help them build community cohesion and resilience.

During a recent class at the Alaska Rock Gym, students in Physical Education & Recreation A148 practiced the fundamentals of indoor sport climbing, from knots and rope handling to bouldering and descent techniques.

The UAA Justice Center has developed a new data tool to visualize data about intimate partner violence in Alaska.

During their first in-person lab of the semester, UAA Medical Assisting Program students learned how to sterilize medical equipment. While most courses have shifted to alternate delivery this fall, in-person labs are still being offered for some fields in which hands-on learning is considered critical.

Because of its hands-on nature, the Physical Therapy Assistant program is one of the few UAA courses that have continued in-person delivery through the summer with smaller-than-usual groups, masks and health screenings before each class.

Public health is a noble calling, largely unappreciated until recent events (namely, a global pandemic) shone new light on its importance. We need public health workers and leaders now more than ever.

Contact tracing is important. There are documented cases of patients who tested positive for COVID-19 and were asymptomatic, which means people may spread the virus without any idea that they have it. Contact tracing can inform individuals who may feel healthy—or who have mild symptoms they attribute to allergies or other causes—of their risk to others, allowing them to get tested or quarantine as appropriate, hopefully reducing the spread of the virus.

In 1992 Congress established the Udall Foundation in honor of the late Morris K. Udall, a democratic attorney who served as a representative from Arizona from 1961-1991. Udall was known for his leadership and lasting impact on the nation’s environment, public lands and natural resources, as well as his advocacy for supporting the rights and self-governance of Native Americans and Alaska Natives.

Across the country, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases continues to see dramatic increases as communities slowly implement reopening phases. At the time of this writing, Alaska recorded its largest single-day increase of 44 infections, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases to 973 since the pandemic began.

UAA alumni find many ways to stay connected and give back to their community, including nursing grad Tisha Benson, public health and ambulatory care nurse at Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium.