AHD explains why it released COVID-19 exposure locations

Last week, the Anchorage Health Department decided to release the names of businesses where people infected with COVID-19 visited for an extended period of time.

Monday, AHD explained its decision making.

"With a large population of people potentially at risk, AHD issued a public advisory to alert people of their potential exposure and to provide information on what they should do during the 14 days after possible exposure. This information was critical for Anchorage residents to make informed decisions about their health," AHD said in a release.

Some of the businesses named in AHD's announcement were JJ’s Lounge, The Gaslight Bar, Williwaw Social, and Chilkoot Charlie’s.

AHD did make it clear that "the fact that a business appeared on the list does not mean it did anything wrong."

The health department did point out that it has not identified new cases associated with any of the businesses identified on Friday.

In fact, AHD says Some of the listed businesses have met or exceeded the safety measures recommended by the CDC and in Phase 3 of the Municipality’s Roadmap to Reopening.

As for why it took some time for AHD to release a statement, a spokesperson with the mayor's office says "Due to the limited capacity of our public health team, this was the soonest I was able to get it out."

As of Tuesday morning, a number of the businesses announced Friday have been taken off the list, including three of the above-mentioned business in this article.

To see a list of exposure locations,

As of the writing of this article, there are currently 1,166 total cases of COVID-19 in Alaska. There are currently 598 active cases.