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 Saturday, 54 people with COVID-19 were hospitalized around Alaska and four 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. In the last update on Friday, 43,992 people had received their first dose of 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 190 new cases reported among residents, there were 56 in Anchorage, five in Chugiak, three in Eagle River and one in Girdwood; 21 in Wasilla; 13 in Palmer; 10 in Fairbanks; nine at Bethel; seven at the North Pole; five in Soldotna; five in Kodiak; four in Utqiagvik; three in Unalaska; two in Kenai; one on Big Lake; one in Nome; one in Kotzebue; and one in Juneau.
Among communities with fewer than 1,000 unnamed people to protect privacy, there were 15 in the Kusilvak census area; 11 in the Bethel Census Area; nine at North Slope Borough; two in the north of the Kenai Borough Peninsula; two in the Yukon-Koyukuk census area; one in the Copper River region; one at Fairbanks North Star Borough; and one in the Northwest Arctic Borough.
Five non-residents tested positive for COVID-19: two in Wasilla, one in the Northwest Arctic Borough, one in Juneau and one in an unknown location.
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 of the test across the state on Saturday was 3.53% 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.