COVID-19 follow-up in Alaska: 184 cases and no deaths reported Friday

Friday’s case count continues a downward trend in the number of infections after peaking in November and early December that led officials to worry about the hospital’s capacity. Twice this week, the daily number of cases fell into double digits for the first time since September.

In response to the drop in counts, Acting Anchorage Mayor Austin Quinn-Davidson announced this week that the city will soon relax its COVID-19 restrictions under a new emergency ordinance that will allow more of people in bars and restaurants, and will ease the limits on collection and organized sports.

Emergency Order 18 goes into effect at 8 a.m. on Monday and will remain in effect until revoked, Quinn-Davidson said Thursday.

Despite the general decrease in the number of cases, Alaska remains in the highest alert category based on its current per capita infection rate. And the number of cases remains high and increasing in western Alaska, where some villages have experienced significant outbreaks.

Hospitalizations have also continued to decline and are now less than a third of what they were during the state’s peak in November and December. As of Friday, there were 43 people with COVID-19 in hospitals statewide and five patients suspected of having the virus. Ten COVID-positive patients were on ventilators.

The vaccine reached Alaska in mid-December. By Friday, 90,777 people – about 12% of Alaska’s population – had been vaccinated, according to the state’s Vaccine Monitoring Dashboard. This is almost double the national average of 7.2%.

Healthcare workers, nursing home staff and residents were the first to be vaccinated. In early January, the state said adults over the age of 65 were now eligible, though date slots were limited and filled up quickly.

Of the 176 cases reported among Alaskan residents on Friday, there were 67 in Anchorage, three in Chugiak and five in Eagle River; one at Homer’s; one in Seward; two in Soldotna; three at Kodiak; one in Cordoba; one to Healy; 12 at Fairbanks plus two at the North Pole; one in Tok; seven to Palmer; two in Sutton-Alpine; 25 in Wasilla; one in Utqiagvik; 17 in Juneau; two in Ketchikan; one in Sitka; one in Hoonah-Angoon; three in Unalaska; and eight in Bethel.

Among the communities with less than 1,000 people not named to protect privacy, there were two in the Matanuska-Susitna district; three in the Bethel census area; and five in the Kusilvak census area.

Eight non-residents have also tested positive: one in Anchorage, one in Unalaska and six in an unidentified part of the state.

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.

During the past week, 2.72% of all tests conducted statewide came back positive.