Did you hear about the guy in Western Alaska who recently broke into a fire station, started a truck, drove it through the door, turned on the flashing lights and drove to a bar 15 miles away? He was arrested at the bar door.
Seems like he went more Corona crazy than corona crazy: he’s in jail now.
Another possible case of Corona crazy: The chief engineer of a Seattle-based factory trawler was quarantined on a vessel at Pier 91 in Seattle when he, too, decided to go to a bar. He didn’t steal a fire truck to get there, but he did tell about his exploit on Facebook. He’s not in jail, but he was fired.
A different Seattle-based factory trawler recently tested its crew of 126 and found 85 were positive for Covid-19. That clearly qualifies as corona crazy, especially for the cooped-up crew and their managers and families back on the beach.
With all the non-residents who flock to Alaska each spring and summer to work and to play, Alaskas have been very worried about the coronavirus. The state requires that all commercial fishermen and processing workers must be quarantined for two weeks either before arriving in Alaska or upon arrival. The state also requires testing for incoming outsiders if they haven’t been quarantined.
All over the state, commercial boats with quarantined crews are flying a black and yellow “Lima” flag, and boats with cleared crews fly a solid yellow “Quebec” flag.
A tour boat operator in Seward just discovered two employees with Covid-19, part of a local hot spot. Tours are now cancelled until July 10. Guess they’d be flying a Lima now.
Western Towboat, a tug operator in Seattle that tows container barges to and from Alaska, gets around the mandatory quarantining by keeping its crews on the boats and barges. They never step foot on Alaska soil. They do drive big forklifts on and off the barges, moving containers around, but no visiting the office, not even with a mask.
