After postponing the 2020 Pilot Program backhaul events until the 2021 summer backhaul season, Backhaul Alaska has continued to be proactive by switching its planned Winter training to distance delivery, and developing options to carry out the critical local backhaul program readiness inspections. Unfortunately, COVID-19 is still with us and community transmission is a continued risk. To forecast best resource needs and timing for each community backhaul event under the Pilot Program, we developed a Community Backhaul COVID-19 Response Planning Tool. Roughly analogous to Alaska’s “Smart Start 2020” school plan, this planning tool uses decision trees to assign a color-coded readiness status for three key local program elements:
Each community is assessed for each Element at bi-weekly and assigned an overall Community Status color code. This system allows the regional and state coordinators to identify trouble areas to which they can direct priority resources and problem solving. At the Program level, the relative number of communities at green and red status is a useful indicator of the overall activity level and of resources being expended.
Community Status Designation Summary
Green Status Community may have up to one yellow designator. Yellow Status Community may have up to one green designator and/or one orange designator. Red Status may have one or more green, yellow, or orange. Red status is red with any red designators.
Backhaul Alaska Program Level Status for 2021 Backhaul
The full Plan may be accessed here and the current overall status is provided below.
Current COVID-19 Status Tracker Information
The designation status for the current program communities are assessed as follows:
The Backhaul Alaska Program Level Status is GREEN – Full Operation.