[ad_1]
Alaska’s latest wave of COVID-19 accelerated this week as state health officials reported 376 new cases on Tuesday alone, the highest single-day tally since early January before the vaccine is not widely available.
Two new deaths were also reported: a man from Anchorage and a man from Soldotna, both aged 70.
The state reported a total of 526 new infections for Monday and Tuesday, including 55 non-resident cases, another relatively high number, according to the Alaska Department of Health and Human Services scorecard.
Nearly half of the new non-resident cases, or 27, are from the seafood industry in Unalaska, according to a spokesperson for the state’s health department. The remaining cases were scattered around the state in small numbers.
In addition to the 379 Alaskans who died from the virus, as the state reported, a resident of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in quarantine died of complications from COVID-19 on Monday, according to the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corp.
Hospitalizations in the state, particularly in Anchorage, are also at levels not seen since the winter. The state was reporting 94 people with COVID-19 hospitalized on Wednesday.
The highly contagious delta variant first identified in Alaska in May is currently fueling a “phase of rapid acceleration,” state epidemiologist Dr. Joe McLaughlin said Wednesday in a briefing. “Most of these measures are motivated by unvaccinated people. “
Several communities statewide are experiencing a sharp increase in cases. More than half of the new cases reported were in the Anchorage area.
Officials in the city and borough of Juneau reported 29 new cases of residents in two days. The assembly was meeting on Wednesday evening to decide whether to extend the declaration of emergency. An outbreak in Sitka that sent more than a dozen people to the local hospital continued to grow, with 28 cases reported on Monday and Tuesday.
The Yukon-Kuskokwim region also reported 28 cases over two days, plus one new hospitalization.
The Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday released new recommendations urging people in areas where coronavirus transmission is classified as significant or high to wear masks when indoors in public places.
Most areas of Alaska are on the highest alert level.
“There have been changes in the virus, which has resulted in changes in science, which has resulted in changes in the messages from the CDC and from us,” said Dr. Anne Zink, Chief Medical Officer of Alaska, during a briefing on Wednesday.
Zink said fully vaccinated Alaskans with known close contact who have tested positive for the virus should consider getting tested, as should anyone showing symptoms of the virus, regardless of their vaccination status.
Health officials continue to encourage Alaskans to get vaccinated, noting that the vaccines have been shown to be very effective in preventing serious illnesses, including the more contagious variants.
As of Wednesday, nearly 48% of all Alaskans had received a dose and just over 43% were fully immunized. The national average of the total US population that is fully vaccinated is 50%.
People vaccinated against the virus are usually protected against more serious illnesses but can spread the new variant, according to state health officials. The viral load, or the amount of virus in an infected person’s nose or mouth, is about the same whether or not they are vaccinated, McLaughlin said.
The delta variant also appears to incubate faster: the interval between exposure and the first positive test is just under four days instead of six, he said.
Both results place new emphasis on getting tested as soon as symptoms appear, officials say.
Of the 471 new cases reported among residents on Wednesday, there were 177 in Anchorage; 29 in Juneau; 28 in Sitka; 25 at Eagle River; 21 in Wasilla; 16 in Fairbanks; 15 in Cordoba; nine in Kenai, eight in Kodiak and Soldotna; seven to Chugiak, Palmer and Tok; six at the North Pole; five in Craig, Ketchikan and Unalaska; four in Big Lake, Seward, Sterling and Valdez; three at Bethel; two each in Utqiaġvik, Wrangell; and one in Dillingham, Douglas, Ester, Hooper Bay, Nome and Sutton-Alpine.
Among the communities of less than 1,000 not identified for confidentiality reasons, there were 22 in the Bethel census area; 12 in the Copper River census area; five in the northern borough of the Kenai Peninsula; four in the southern Borough of Kenai Peninsula and in the Prince Of Wales-Hyder census area; three in the Yukon-Koyukuk census region; two each in the borough of Fairbanks North Star, the census region of Kusilvak, the borough of Matanuska-Susitna, the borough of the Arctic Northwest, the census region of the southeast of Fairbanks; and one in each in the Bristol Bay plus Lake and Peninsula, Denali Borough, Nome Census Area and Yakutat plus Hoonah-Angoon boroughs.
Of all coronavirus tests done in the state over the past week, 5.5% have come back positive. Anything above 5% may indicate a need for broader testing.
That’s higher than at any time during the pandemic except last November, Zink said.
Note: The health service now updates its coronavirus dashboard on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays excluding holidays.
[ad_2]
Source link