State data showed that the death involved an Anchorage resident. In total, 225 Alaskans and a non-resident with COVID-19 have died since the pandemic hit the state in March. Alaska’s per capita mortality rate is among the lowest in the country, although the size of the state and the vulnerable health system complicate national comparisons.
As of Wednesday, 61 people with COVID-19 were hospitalized across the state and seven other patients were suspected of having the virus, according to the state. Hospitalizations have plummeted since high numbers were reported 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 Wednesday, 35,853 people received their first dose of the vaccine with 7,965 having 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 go to 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.
Of the 288 new cases reported on Wednesday among Alaskan residents, 81 occurred in Anchorage, another 12 in Eagle River and one in Girdwood; 39 in Fairbanks; 19 at Bethel; 18 in Wasilla; eight in Palmer; seven at the North Pole; seven in Petersburg; six in Ketchikan; four in Kodiak; four in Unalaska; three in Kenai; three in Nome; two in Utqiagvik; two at Delta Junction; one in Homer; one at Seward; one in Soldotna; one in Sterling; one in Córdoba; one in Valdez; one in Kotzebue; one in Juneau; one in Sitka; one in Hooper Bay; and one in an unidentified region of the state.
Among communities with fewer than 1,000 unnamed people to protect privacy, there were 27 in the Bethel Census Area; seven at North Slope Borough; seven in the Kusilvak Census Area; six in the Yukon-Koyukuk census area; three in the north of the Kenai Borough Peninsula; three at Fairbanks North Star Borough; three in the northwest arctic quarter; one in the south of the Kenai Borough Peninsula; one in the Kodiak Island neighborhood; one in the Valdez-Cordova Census Area; one at Denali Borough; and one in the Prince of Wales and Hyder census area.
Eight cases were reported Wednesday among non-residents, including three in Juneau, two in Fairbanks, one in Anchorage, one in Kenai and one in an unidentified region 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 positivity rate for the test across the state on Wednesday was 4.06% over 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.