[ad_1]
The latest case count is part of a trend in Alaska of declining infections over the past two months, after a peak in November and early December that strained hospital capacity. Hospitalizations in Alaska are now less than a quarter of what they were in November and December.
Wednesday there were 37 people with COVID-19 in hospitals statewide, including four on ventilators. Nine others patients would have the virus.
The COVID-19 vaccine reached Alaska in mid-December. As of Wednesday, 146,778 people – more than 20% of Alaska’s total population – had received at least their first vaccine, according to the state’s Vaccine Monitoring Dashboard. This is well above the national average of 13.4%.
Among Alaskans aged 16 and over, 26% had received at least one dose of the vaccine. The Pfizer vaccine has been approved for people 16 years of age and older, and Moderna has been approved for people 18 years of age and older. At least 92,630 people had received both doses of the vaccine. Alaska has currently vaccinated more residents per capita than any other state, according to a national tracker.
Healthcare workers, nursing home staff and residents were the first priority people to receive the vaccine. Alaskans over 65 became eligible in early January, and the state further expanded the eligibility criteria this month to include educators, people 50 and over with a problem. high-risk health care workers, essential front-line workers aged 50 and over, and people living or working in congregations. settings like shelters and prisons on Wednesday, officials said people who helped Alaskans 65 and older get vaccinated were now eligible for a vaccine.
Individuals eligible to receive the vaccine can visit covidvax.alaska.gov or call 907-646-3322 to register and confirm their eligibility. The telephone line is open from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on weekdays and from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekends.
The Matanuska-Susitna region overtook the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta this week to record the state’s highest average daily case rate. On Wednesday, the Mat-Su recorded 34.41 cases per 100,000 in the past 14 days.
Of the 175 cases reported Wednesday among Alaskan residents, there were 44 in Anchorage, three in Chugiak, seven in Eagle River and two in Girdwood; two in Cordoba; one at Homer’s; one in Nikiski; one in Seward; 18 in Fairbanks; seven at the North Pole; 16 in Palmer; 37 in Wasilla; one in Kotzebue; three in Juneau; 10 in Ketchikan; 10 in Petersburg; and one in Skagway.
In communities of less than 1,000 people not named for privacy, there was one case in the Copper River Census Area; one in the Matanuska-Susitna district; one in the census area of Nome; six in the Bethel census area; and two in the Kusilvak census area.
There were also four non-resident cases including one in Fairbanks; one at Delta Junction; one in Unalaska; and one in an unidentified part of the report.
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.
[ad_2]
Source link