Alaska reported 383 new coronavirus infections between Saturday and Monday, according to the Department of Health and Social Services. The state is no longer updating its coronavirus dashboard this weekend, including the data in Monday’s report.
No new deaths related to COVID-19 have been reported since Friday when the state reported the death of an Anchorage resident. A total of 302 Alaskans and four non-residents with COVID-19 have died since the pandemic hit Alaska in March. Alaska’s per capita mortality rate is still among the lowest in the country, but the state’s size and vulnerable health care system make national comparisons difficult.
Teen Monday 187 069 people – about 26% of Alaska’s total population and a third of Alaska’s 16 years and older who are eligible for the vaccine – received at least their first vaccine shot, according to the State Panel for Vaccine Monitoring. This is above the national average of 21% of the population. At least 128 435 people received both doses of the vaccine.
More than two-thirds of the elderly received at least one dose, the state’s vaccination panel showed.
Although the number of cases and hospitalizations in Alaska remains much lower than it was during the peak in November and December, the overall decline in cases has been similar over the past few weeks, and many regions of the state are still in the highest alert category based on their current rate of infection per capita.
Public health officials continue to encourage Alaskans to keep up with personal virus mitigation efforts such as hand washing, mask wear, social distance and to be tested if it is symptomatic or exposed to someone with COVID-19.
By Monday, there were 32 people with COVID-19 in hospitals across the state, well below a peak at the end of 2020. Another eight patients delivered test results pending.
Of the 372 cases identified among Alaska residents since Friday, there were 103 in Anchorage, 80 in Wasilla, 24 in Eagle River, 21 in Fairbanks, 18 in Delta Junction, 18 in Palmer, 15 in Chugiak, 10 in Juneau, nine in northern Poland, six in Ketchikan, six in Soldotna, five in Homer, five in Kenai, four in Kodiak, four in Petersburg, four in Willow, two in Utqiagvik, one in Anchor Point, one in Big Lake, one in Cordova , one in Girdwood, one in Healy, one in Kotzebue, one in Nome and one in Seward.
Among smaller communities that do not protect privacy, there are 17 in the Bethel census area, five in the Southeast Fairbanks census area, two in the Northwest Arctic Borough, one in the Copper River census area, one in the Fairbanks North Star Borough, one in the Kenai Peninsula District, one in the Ketchikan Gateway District, one in the Kusilvak Census Area and one in the Borough Mat-Su.
There were also 11 new cases of non-residents identified: three in Anchorage, two in the Yakutat plus Hoonah Angoon region, one in Fairbanks, one in Kenai, one in Kodiak, one in Wasilla, one in a smaller Southeast Fairbanks community and one in an unknown region of the state.
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 across the country in the past week, 2.24% came back positive.