Four more residents of the Norton Sound region have tested positive for the disease caused by the coronavirus. Three of those patients are located in Stebbins, bringing the local outbreak to 24 total cases.

According to Norton Sound Health Corporation, two new COVID-19 cases were discovered on Friday while the third was found on Saturday. NSHC says these three individuals are all connected to the outbreak of the virus in Stebbins.

The community is still on a hunker down notice, residents are encouraged to wear face masks when leaving their homes, and access to public buildings is limited. Stebbins is one of several unserviced communities in the Bering Strait Region that currently has no access to running water. Their sanitation needs have been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, as KNOM has reported previously.

Separately, a patient of an un-named village in the region tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday. NSHC did not disclose which community the individual is from, but did say that local leadership has been notified.

The State Section of Epidemiology and Public Health Nursing are investigating these four new cases and conducting contact tracing. There are now 124 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Norton Sound region. 30 are currently active while 94 are considered recovered.

Image at top: Particles from the coronavirus. Photo in the public domain via Creative Commons