Stronger Apart.

• Author: Mackenzie, Kathryn
• Position: FROM THE EDITOR

What a year, right? Last year around this time we were expecting an economic recovery just around the corner, in no small part due to an anticipated record-breaking year for tourism in Alaska. But even though the Lower 48 can sometimes feel like a world away, it's not so far that the 49th State was spared the devastating effects of COVID-19.

As the year progressed, COVID-19 cases increased pretty steadily, causing often irreparable damage to lives and livelihoods for people of all ages across every industry in the state--but in particular for the tourism and hospitality industries. Leisure and hospitality saw job losses of more than 33 percent from September 2019 to September 2020 (that's some 13,600 fewer jobs than during the same time period last year). The transportation, warehousing, and utilities sector had 6,000 fewer jobs, mainly in scheduled air transportation and scenic and sightseeing transportation, according to an Alaskanomics report from late October.

In any other year, Alaska is a bucket list destination for more than 2.5 million people. Tourists are welcomed with open arms to towns and villages statewide. But this year welcoming anyone with open arms proved to be difficult. And dangerous.

At a time when most of us are confused and looking for answers where there are few to be found, a calm voice and careful, consistent messaging can be life-saving.

Enter our cover model and Alaska's Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Anne Zink. Since the...