Health workers ‘terrified’ of what to come, says Anchorage doctor, as state reports 462 new coronavirus infections

As of Friday, there were 118 patients with COVID-19 in health facilities across the state, including 15 on ventilators. Fourteen other people hospitalized were suspected of having COVID-19.

Benjamin Westley, an infectious disease physician who treats COVID-19 patients in Anchorage, said the number of people hospitalized with severe COVID-19 far exceeds even the worst flu seasons of his career.

“A quarter to a fifth of our hospital is currently COVID,” Westley said. “That’s a huge, huge number.”

And with hospitalizations four weeks behind positive tests, the worst may be yet to come, he said.

“That’s why we’re all so terrified,” Westley said.

A total of 100 Alaskans with COVID-19 and one non-resident have died. Alaska’s overall per capita death rate remains among the lowest in the country, but has increased.

Of the 459 new cases reported among residents of Alaska, there were 227 in Anchorage, 10 in Chugiak, 12 in Eagle River and two in Girdwood; one at Anchor Point; seven to Homer; 13 in Kenai; one in Nikiski; two in Seward; nine in Soldotna; one in pounds sterling; 10 to Kodiak; one in Valdez; 23 in Fairbanks; six at the North Pole; 14 at Delta Junction; nine in Palmer; 35 in Wasilla; one in Nome; five in Utqiagvik; nine in Kotzebue; two in Juneau; three in Sitka; and nine at Bethel.

Among the communities of less than 1,000 who are not named for privacy protection, there were two in the northern Kenai Peninsula; one in the south of the Kenai Peninsula; four in the Valdez-Cordova census area; four in the borough of Fairbanks North Star; one in the southeast Fairbanks census region; five in the Yukon-Koyukuk census region; two in the Nome census area; one in the North Slope borough; 17 in the Bethel census area; one in Bristol Bay plus the lake and peninsula; five in the Dillingham census area; and four in the Kusilvak census area.

Three more cases have been reported in non-residents, all 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.

Among the new cases, the number of patients showing symptoms when they tested positive is not indicated. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about a third of people with the virus are asymptomatic.

A total of 26,544 Alaskan residents and non-residents living in Alaska have tested positive for the virus since March.

The state’s testing positivity on Friday was 7.76% on a seven-day moving average. A positivity rate above 5% may indicate high community transmission and not enough testing, health officials said.

State health officials say the increase in cases is driving state-wide contact tracing efforts and are asking those who test positive to contact their own close contacts.

Close contacts should then be quarantined for two weeks, even if they have no symptoms, and even if they receive negative test results during that time. If they are asymptomatic, close contacts are encouraged to get tested about a week after their potential exposure; if symptomatic, get tested immediately.