According to the Department of Health and Social Services, Alaska reported 337 new coronavirus infections and no new deaths related to COVID-19. The state no longer updates its coronavirus dashboard on weekends, but includes the weekend numbers in Monday’s report.
By Monday, there were 27 people with COVID-19 in hospitals across the state, well below the peak at the end of 2020. Five more patients completed the test results.
The COVID-19 vaccine reached Alaska in mid-December. Teen Monday 168,577 people – about 23% of Alaska’s total population – received at least their first vaccine shot, according to the state’s vaccine monitoring board. This is above the national average of 17.7%.
Among Alaska 16 and older, 30% received at least one dose of vaccine. The Pfizer vaccine has been approved for use in people 16 years and older, and the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines have been cleared for use in people 18 and older. At least 117,861 people received both doses of the vaccine. According to a national tracker, Alaska currently has inoculated more residents per capita than any other state.
Healthcare workers and nursing home staff and residents were the first people to receive the vaccine. Alaskans over the age of 65 were eligible in early January, and in February the state further extended admission requirements to educators, people 50 years and older with high-risk medical conditions, essential workers 50 and older, and people living or work in collection institutions such as shelters and prisons.
Recently, officials added that essential workers and high-risk health conditions aged 16 and over, as well as people living in communities that do not have water or sewerage systems, live in multigenerational homes, help a parent to be vaccinated or 55 is. and parent is also eligible for the vaccine. In Anchorage, Alaskans 40 and older can also be vaccinated by Southcentral Foundation.
Those eligible to receive the vaccine can visit covidvax.alaska.gov or call 907-646-3322 to sign up and be eligible. The telephone line is manned on weekdays from 09:00 to 18:30 and on weekends from 09:00 to 16:30.
Despite the small print, most regions in Alaska are still in the highest alert category based on the current per capita infection rate, and public health officials are urging Alaskans to continue efforts to mitigate personal viruses such as hand washing, mask wear and social distance. A highly infected British variant of the virus reached Alaska in December, while a separate variant that originated in Brazil was found in the state last month. Scientists in Alaska last month announced the discovery of ten cases of a new coronavirus strain first discovered in California.
Of the 323 cases identified in Alaska residents over the past three days, there were 119 cases in Anchorage plus six in Chugiak, 22 in Eagle River and one in Girdwood; 68 in Wasilla; 31 in Fairbanks plus eight in the North Pole; 31 in Palmer; four in Delta Junction; four in Soldotna; three in Kotzebue; two in Bethel; two in Homer; two in Juneau; two in Unalaska; one in Big Lake; one in Cordova; one in Esther; one in Houston; one in Petersburg; one in Sitka; one in Utqiagvik; and one in Willow.
Among communities smaller than 1,000 that were not named to protect individuals’ privacy, there were three in the Copper River census area; two in the northern district of Kenai Peninsula; one in the Bethel census area; one in the Kusilvak census area; one in the Mat-Su Borough; one in the Noordhellingstad; and one in the Southeast Fairbanks Census Area.
There were also 14 new foreign affairs: 11 in Anchorage, two in Wasilla and one in Prudhoe Bay.
Although people can be tested more than once, each case reported by the state health department represents only one person.
The state’s data does not determine whether people who are positive for COVID-19 have symptoms. According to CDC estimates, more than half of the country’s infections are transmitted by asymptomatic people.
Of all the tests done in the past week, 2.04% returned positive. Health officials said a test positivity rate of more than 5% could indicate a high prevalence rate in the community and that not enough tests are being done.