February 26, 2021 — For years, residents of the Southeast Alaska fishing town of Pelican decried cuts to state ferry service that left them increasingly isolated.
Then came news of a deadly pandemic spread around the world by travelers.
“Everybody claims that it’s so hard to get in and out of here. I say, that’s perfect,” said Walt Weller, Pelican’s mayor. “There is no better time to be stranded in the middle of nowhere.”
A year into the pandemic, Pelican — reachable only by bush plane or boat — has zero recorded cases of COVID-19 and has vaccinated more than half its adults.
State officials say privacy considerations bar them from identifying communities without cases. But interviews and social media posts indicate Pelican is not alone. Alaska’s unique geography and isolation have helped some of its villages thwart the pandemic with astonishing success.
The state’s list of COVID-free communities includes at least 10 places, stretching from Pelican to the Aleutian Islands to deep in the Interior. In Southwest Alaska, where many communities have seen major outbreaks, officials at the regional tribal health care provider say six villages have nonetheless recorded no coronavirus cases at all.