COVID-19 follow-up in Alaska: 649 cases and no deaths reported from Saturday to Tuesday

The state no longer updates its coronavirus dashboard during weekends or holidays. This week, he included the long weekend numbers in Tuesday’s report.

Overall, the number of cases and hospitalizations in Alaska remain lower than they were during a peak in November and December. However, Alaska is currently experiencing a slight increase in its average daily case rate from recent weeks, health officials said. Many areas of the state are still in the highest alert category based on their current per capita infection rate.

Alaska this month became the first state in the country to open vaccine eligibility to anyone 16 years of age and older who lives or works in the state. You can visit covidvax.alaska.gov or call 907-646-3322 to book an appointment for a vaccine; new appointments are added regularly. 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.

As of Tuesday, 243,546 people – including more than 40% of Alaskans eligible for a vaccine – had received at least their first dose, according to the state’s Vaccine Monitoring Dashboard. At least 165,848 people – about 28% of Alaskans aged 16 and over – were considered fully vaccinated.

Tuesday there were 33 people with COVID-19 in hospitals statewide, well below a peak at the end of 2020. Another patient had test results pending.

Of the 619 cases identified among Alaskan residents from Saturday to Tuesday, there were 240 in Anchorage, 145 in Wasilla, 57 in Fairbanks, 31 in Palmer, 17 in Eagle River, 13 in Valdez, 12 in the North Pole. , 10 in Chugiak, 9 in Delta Junction, eight in Soldotna, seven in Juneau, six in Willow, four in Kodiak, four in Seward, four in Sitka, four in Talkeetna, three in Big Lake, three in Kenai, three in Ketchikan , three in Sterling, three in Utqiagvik, two in Healy, two in Houston and one each in Bethel, Nikiski, Nome and Sutton-Alpine.

Among the communities of less than 1,000 people who are not named to protect the privacy of residents, there were 13 in the Bethel census area, three in the Copper River census area, two in the north of the Kenai Peninsula and one each in the Southern District of Kenai Peninsula Borough, Nome Census Area, North Slope Borough, Northwestern Arctic Borough, Region of Prince of Wales-Hyder Census and the Southeast Fairbanks Census Area.

There were also 30 non-resident cases: 10 in Anchorage, eight on the North Slope, two in Kodiak, one in Fairbanks, one in Valdez and eight in unidentified areas 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.

The average percentage of daily positive tests over the past week was 2.77%.

[Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported the total number of new cases by not including Saturday’s case count.]