Wrangell Sentinel -

If the almost 5.5 million deaths from COVID-19 worldwide seem remote and irrelevant in Wrangell; if you feel a safe distance from the 805,000 deaths across the United States; and if the 946 deaths reported in Alaska as of Monday don’t touch anyone in your life, then think about your closer neighbors.

State records show COVID-19 as a cause of death for 14 people in Ketchikan, 15 in Juneau, six in Sitka, three in Petersburg, six in Prince of Wales Island communities and Hyder, three in Angoon, Hoonah and Yakutat, and one in Wrangell.

That’s almost 50 neighbors, friends and family in South...