Sunday’s case count occurs after several weeks of smaller daily case numbers. Alaska saw a spike in cases in November and early December, which caused concern for the hospital’s capacity and ultimately led to more orders for a month in Anchorage. The number of cases began to decline in December.
As infections continue to drop in numbers, Anchorage’s incumbent mayor, Austin Quinn-Davidson, announced last week that the city will ease COVID-19 restrictions. A new emergency order will take effect on Monday and will allow more people to enter bars and restaurants and facilitate the collection of size limits.
Despite the lower case figures over January, Alaska is in the highest alert category based on the current infection rate per capita. In western Alaska, the case count remains high and is even increasing in some rural villages that are experiencing significant outbreaks of COVID-19.
The seafood industry was again hit by several outbreaks in ships and processing facilities in the Aleutian Islands. Some of the facilities were temporarily closed as soon as the winter fishing season began.
Hospitalizations fell simultaneously with the number of infections and are now less than a third of where they were during the peak in November and December. As of Sunday, there were 38 people with COVID-19 in hospitals across the state. Another four patients were considered to have the virus.
Health officials are asking Alaskans to continue to take the pandemic seriously, even as the number of cases declines. Scientists at the state’s public health labs confirmed last week that a highly contagious variant of the virus hit Alaska last month.
The vaccine arrived in Alaska in mid-December. On Friday, when the state released the most recent data, 90,777 people – about 12% of the Alaskan population – were vaccinated, according to the state’s vaccine monitoring panel. This is almost double the national average of 6.9%.
Health professionals and employees of nursing homes and residents were the first people prioritized to receive the vaccine. In early January, the state said Alaskans over 65 are now eligible, although nomination slots are limited and filled quickly.
Thousands of new vaccine nominations were posted on the state’s website this week. Seniors and other qualified healthcare professionals can call 907-646-3322 for assistance in making an appointment in February.
Of the 130 cases announced to Alaskan residents on Sunday, 41 were in Anchorage, one in Chugiak and two in Eagle River; one was in Homer, one in Nikiski, one in Seward and one in Soldotna; two were in Kodiak; 12 were in Fairbanks and two at the North Pole; one was in Palmer and six in Wasilla; one was in Nome; one was in Kotzebue; three were in Douglas and two in Juneau; one was in Ketchikan; one was in Sitka; one was at Wrangell; four were in Unalaska; and eight were at Bethel.
Among communities with populations under 1,000 unidentified to protect privacy, one was in the Kodiak Island neighborhood; four were in the Copper River area of the Valdez-Cordova Census Area; two were in the Southeast Fairbanks census area; two were in the Yukon-Koyukuk census area; one was in the Matanuska-Susitna neighborhood; two were in the northwest arctic neighborhood; 16 were in the Bethel Census Area; and nine were in the Kusilvak census area.
Seven infections have been identified in non-residents, including one in Anchorage, one in Aleutians East Borough and two in Unalaska. The state health department was still investigating the location in three of the cases.
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.
Last week, 2.39% of all tests completed across the state were positive.