In total, 228 Alaskan people and a non-resident with COVID-19 have died since the pandemic hit the state in March, including 23 deaths reported since January 1. Alaska’s per capita mortality rate is among the lowest in the country, although that of the state’s size and vulnerable health system complicates national comparisons.
On Friday, 72 people with COVID-19 were hospitalized in Alaska and five other patients were suspected of having the virus, according to the state health department. Hospitalizations dropped to less than half of the numbers reported during a peak in November and early December.
The state’s daily case counts have also dropped significantly in recent weeks, but the statewide alert level is still high.
Vaccines arrived in Alaska in mid-December. As of Friday’s most recent update, 43,992 people had received their first dose of the vaccine and 10,954 had received the two doses required for the vaccine to be fully effective, according to the state’s vaccine monitoring panel.
State officials said this week that the state had allocated the vaccine received for December and January, but there are still consultations and major clinics taking place in the coming days and weeks.
For more information, the public can visit covidvax.alaska.gov or call 907-646-3322 and leave a message. A recording says that calls will be returned in the order they were received within 48 hours, but users report greater delays.
Of the 296 new cases reported on Friday among Alaskan residents, there were 63 new cases in Anchorage, three more in Chugiak and 20 in Eagle River; 36 in Wasilla; 30 in Fairbanks; 13 in Palmer; 11 at the North Pole; 11 at Bethel; six in Córdoba; four in Sterling; four in Kodiak; four at Juneau; four in Sitka; three in Unalaska; two in Valdez; two in Kenai; two in Soldotna; two in Utqiagvik; two at Hooper Bay; one at Anchor Point; one in Sutton-Alpine; and one in Ketchikan.
Among communities with less than 1,000 unnamed people to protect privacy, there were 16 in the Bethel Census Area; 15 in the Nome Census Area; 13 in the northwest arctic neighborhood; 11 in the Kusilvak census area; four in the Kodiak Island neighborhood; four at Fairbanks North Star Borough; two in the Yukon-Koyukuk census area; one in the north of the Kenai Borough Peninsula; one in the Valdez-Cordova Census Area; one in the Matanuska-Susitna neighborhood; one in the East Borough of the Aleutians; one in the Bristol Bay plus Lake and Peninsula neighborhoods; and one in the Dillingham census area.
Nine cases were reported on Friday among non-residents, including three in Anchorage, one in Cordova, one in Wasilla and four in unidentified regions of the state.
Although people can be tested more than once, each case reported by the state 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 statewide positive test rate on Friday was 3.68% on an average of seven days. Health officials say anything above 5% could indicate inadequate testing and widespread transmission in the community. The state reached a peak of positivity of more than 9% in November.