Wasilla mayor recovered from COVID-19 infection

WASILLA — Wasilla Mayor Glenda Ledford has recovered from a COVID-19 infection, feeling healthy and in good spirits thanks to the previous degree of immunity achieved from being fully vaccinated and a timely treatment of monoclonal antibodies, taken the day after she was informed that she had tested positive for COVID-19.

“I got the results back Tuesday morning and she said to me — the lady that called me and told me — the test was positive and I’m like you’ve got to be kidding me and she said nuh-uh, no ma’am and I said well I’ve been vaccinated and she said yes ma’am I understand but yes you tested positive you need to drink plenty of fluids and get plenty of rest and I said OK,” Ledford said.

Ledford was elected mayor of Wasilla after a special runoff election in 2020. The Wasilla City Council held a meeting on Sept. 13 with a remote presentation from Alaska Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anne Zink. Ledford did not attend the meeting, but participated telephonically. She admitted to her fellow council members that she believed to be suffering from seasonal allergies, but had gotten a test for COVID-19 to be safe.

After testing Monday and receiving the news that she had tested positive Tuesday, Ledford consulted with her physician and went into Anchorage to receive monoclonal antibody treatment.

“In about 24 hours you could tell a huge difference in the way you felt. I wasn’t as tired, you know, the stuffiness in my head was going away, the cough was going away, so I’m like, huh OK. And then come Friday I was good you know and I have to tell you when they first came out with the vaccine and stuff I was leery like everybody else because we’ve had so much misinformation and you just don’t understand all of it, but you do your research and everything and whatever and I thought you know what first of all because of my age I need to do this. Second of all, I do not want to be responsible for anybody else’s death, so I got vaccinated and I am truthfully glad that I did. They told me when they gave me the antibodies that in 90 days if I so choose, I can take the booster. Well let me tell you in 90 days I will be there to take the booster,” Ledford said. “That virus will kill you whether you think it will or not and even though I was vaccinated and I had a mild case of it, had I not been vaccinated it could have turned deadly. So you know, everybody’s got to do what their conscience tells them to do but if anybody wants to come and talk to me, I’ll tell them anything they want to know about my experience with it or whatever and if I can help save one person then I’ve done my job.”

There are currently 200 people hospitalized in Alaska with COVID-19, 33 of whom are hospitalized at Mat-Su Regional Medical Center. There have been 67 deaths of Mat-Su residents since the start of the pandemic and the state has had over 100,000 cases to date. There is one intensive care unit bed available at MSRMC and only 21 available statewide. There were 1,224 new cases announced on Thursday among Alaska residents, and there were 286 cases among Mat-Su Valley residents, which is the second highest total ever.

Of the 268 new cases announced in the Mat-Su, 177 were attributed to the five ZIP codes that are credited to Wasilla, though not all are within the Wasilla city limits. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, 10,656 positive cases have been attributed to the five Wasilla area zip codes, 151 have been hospitalized and 50 have died.

Buildings in the city of Wasilla require visitors to wear a mask, per an order from Ledford dated Sept. 7. Councilwoman Nikki Velock chaired the meeting on Sept. 13 and relayed questions to Zink about a number of controversial topics. Velock asked Zink about vaccine safety in comparison to other vaccines, hospital capacity, different types of testing, determination of delta variant cases and other council members added their own questions.

“When we look at the population as a whole, it is much safer to get vaccinated than to get COVID-19 without being vaccinated and right now with delta, we are all going to be exposed to COVID in one way or the other if we are interacting with other people. It’s just so transmissible,” said Zink. “I have been practicing at Mat-Su for 12 years. I’ve never seen anything like this in my career. It’s heartbreaking to know that you could be able to provide care for a patient but are unable to provide it because there is not a bed to be able to care for that patient and the staff to go with it and this isn’t just COVID patients, this is strokes, heart attacks, dirt bike accidents, appendicitis, things that normally would not be a big deal to care for.”

Ledford received her final dose of vaccination early in March and visited a close friend who was unvaccinated in the hospital for nearly four months.

“Every day that I would go to see her I would say thank you Lord that I got the shot,” said Ledford.

Ledford did not experience severe symptoms during her COVID-19 infection and believed that her stuffiness had come from seasonal allergies, which she experiences every year. Ledford said that she learned a great deal during the council discussion with Zink.

“She cleared up a lot of misinformation and should I say Facebook information,” said Ledford. “Having Dr. Zink, the main reason is because for the citizens of Wasilla I want them to be able to make an educated decision on either to have the vaccine or not.”

The Mat-Su Valley as a whole remains ranked third lowest in the state for vaccinations as the state of Alaska has risen to have more cases per day on average than any other state in the country. The Mat-Su ranks only ahead of the North Slope Borough and southeast Fairbanks Census area according to the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services dashboard for vaccination rates among residents. While 64 % of Valley residents over 65 have been fully vaccinated, approximately 58,466 Mat-Su residents have yet to receive any vaccination. There are 40.6 % of Mat-Su residents over the age of 12 who have been fully vaccinated and another 4,143 who have received one dose and area awaiting a second, with 54.6 % of residents choosing not to receive any vaccines. Zink also appeared telephonically to address the Mat-Su Borough School District School Board on Sept. 1, voicing her concern.

“I think that we are at a critical point in this pandemic,” said Zink. “I didn’t speak to you at all last year. This is the first time I’ve had the opportunity to speak with the board, but this honestly for me is the worst point in the pandemic is where we’re at right now. I never wanted to see our hospitals where they are right now and it’s not a good place and we really need every Alaskan to help us pull forward to protect each other. We have one hospital in the Valley, we have one school district, we are friends, we’re families, we’re all in this together and we’ve unfortunately already had tremendous loss but I think that’s going to get a lot worse if we don’t all do our part to slow it down.”

As of Wednesday night, the MSBSD had 1,241 total cases confirmed among students and staff since the start of the fall semester and 123 cases reported over the last seven days. There are no schools closed to in-person instruction, but 19 schools feature a mask requirement for students and staff in the medium risk category. Ledford said that she felt obligated to require that masks be worn in city of Wasilla buildings for the over 130 employees that work for the city of Wasilla.

“The way the summer went and whatever, you know I got lax on wearing a mask and whatever because I’m like everybody else, I don’t like to wear one. But you know what, if wearing a mask is going to save one person’s life it’s worth it to me,” said Ledford. “I feel like as mayor it’s my job to protect these city employees the best that I can. I mean I can, you know as Mayor I can only do so much.”

Ledford stressed that she feels great after receiving the monoclonal antibodies and is back to work. The entire presentation from Zink to the Wasilla City Council can be found online.

The presentation begins at 7:25 and ends at 39:35.