COVID-19 follow-up in Alaska: 113 infections and 1 death reported on Friday

A new death related to COVID-19 was reported on Friday, involving an Anchorage resident. A total of 302 Alaskans and four non-residents with COVID-19 have died since the pandemic hit the state in March. Alaska’s per capita death rate is still among the lowest in the country, but the size of the state and vulnerable health care system complicate national comparisons.

Although the number of cases and hospitalizations in Alaska remain well below what they were during the peak of November and December, the overall decline in cases has stabilized in recent weeks, and many parts of the state are always in the highest alert category based on their per capita infection rate. Matanuska-Susitna district currently has the highest two-week case rate in the state at 39.74 cases per 100,000.

Public health officials continue to encourage Alaskans to follow personal virus mitigation efforts such as hand washing, wearing masks, social distancing, and testing if they are symptomatic or exposed to someone with COVID-19.

Friday there were 32 people with COVID-19 in hospitals statewide, well below a peak at the end of 2020. Four other patients had pending test results.

By Friday 187069 people – about 26% of Alaska’s population – had received at least their first vaccine, according to the state’s Vaccine Monitoring Dashboard. This is above the national average of 19%. At least 128,434 people had received both doses of the vaccine.

Of the 112 cases identified among Alaskan residents on Friday, there were 38 in Anchorage, four in Chugiak and two in Eagle River; one at Homer’s; two in Kenai; one in Soldotna; one at Kodiak; five in Fairbanks; six at Delta Junction; three at Big Lake; eight to Palmer; and 38 in Wasilla.

Among the small communities not named to protect individual privacy, there was one in the Southeast Fairbanks census area; one in the borough of North Slope; and one in the Kusilvak census area.

A new non-resident case has also been identified in Anchorage.

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.

Of all the tests done in the past week, 2.52% came back positive.

Note: The state no longer updates its coronavirus dashboard on weekends and instead includes this data in Monday’s report.