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Thursday’s case count continues a downward trend in the number of infections over the past month. Infections in Anchorage and Alaska peaked in November and early December, raising concerns about the capacity of hospitals, prompting the City of Anchorage to place an order in December.
As of Thursday, there were 56 people with COVID-19 in hospitals statewide and two other patients suspected of having the virus. Seven of these patients are on ventilators and 6.1% of all hospitalized patients tested positive for COVID-19. Hospitalizations are now less than half of what they were during the peak in November and December.
The vaccines first arrived in the state in December and as of Thursday at least 67,173 people had received the first dose, according to the state’s Vaccine Monitoring Dashboard. At least 14,663 people had received the second dose. Alaska has currently vaccinated more residents per capita than any other state, according to a national tracker.
Health care workers, nursing home staff and residents were the first group to receive the vaccinations. Earlier this month, the state opened up vaccines to adults over the age of 65, although appointment windows were limited and filled up quickly.
For more information on vaccination appointments, visit covidvax.alaska.gov or call 907-646-3322 and leave a message. A record says calls will be returned in order of receipt within 48 hours, but some users have reported longer delays.
Of the 202 cases reported Thursday among residents of Alaska, there were 40 in Anchorage, 11 in Eagle River and one in Girdwood; 22 in Fairbanks; 18 in Wasilla; 15 in Juneau; nine in Palmer; eight in Kenai; eight at Bethel; seven at the North Pole; six in Unalaska; three at Anchor Point; three at Kodiak; two in Seward; two in Sutton-Alpine; two to Douglas; two in Ketchikan; one in Soldotna; one at Homer’s; one in Tok; and one in Sitka.
Among the communities with less than 1,000 people not named for privacy, there were 30 in the Kusilvak census area; three in the Bethel census area; one in the south of the Kenai Peninsula; one in the Yukon-Koyukuk census region; one in the Matanuska-Susitna district; one in the Northwestern Arctic Borough; one in the eastern Aleutian census area; and one in the Dillingham census area.
A non-resident in an unidentified part of the state has also tested positive for the virus.
While people can be tested more than once, each case reported by the state’s health department represents only one person.
State data does not specify whether people who test positive for COVID-19 have symptoms. More than half of the country’s infections are transmitted by asymptomatic people, according to CDC estimates.
Over the past week, 3.53% of all tests done statewide came back positive.
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