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 that have been recorded 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 Sunday, 65 people with COVID-19 were hospitalized across the state and five others in hospitals were suspected of being infected. Hospitalizations are at about half the level reported in November and early December, when the state had the highest peak in cases, hospitalizations and deaths since the virus arrived in Alaska in March. At the time, authorities feared that hospitals could become overwhelmed with COVID-19 infections.
Cases have declined in recent weeks, but the state remains on high alert.
Vaccines arrived in Alaska in mid-December and on Friday, 43,992 Alaskans received their first dose, according to the state’s vaccine monitoring panel. Nearly 11,000 Alaskan residents received the second dose of the vaccine by Friday, the latest data available.
Health professionals, nursing home workers and residents were the first group to receive vaccines. Earlier this month, the state opened vaccines for adults over 65, although hours are limited and run out quickly when the scheduling window opens.
For more information about vaccination appointments, 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 some users have reported longer delays.
Of the 265 cases reported in Alaskan residents on Sunday, 55 were in Anchorage, three in Chugiak and five in Eagle River; one was at Anchor Point and the other at Homer; three were in Kodiak; three were in Córdoba and one in Valdez; 29 were in Fairbanks and six at the North Pole; one was at Delta Junction; two were on Big Lake; eight in Palmer and 18 in Wasilla; one was in Nome; six were in Utqiagvik; two were at Juneau; 24 were in Unalaska; eight were at Bethel; and one was at Hooper Bay.
Among communities with fewer than 1,000 unnamed people to protect privacy, there was one in the northern Kenai Borough Peninsula; one was on Kodiak Island Borough; one was in the Copper River area of the Valdez-Cordova Census Area; one was in the Fairbanks North Star district; three were in the Yukon-Koyukuk census area; one was in the Nome Census Area; three were at Borough North Slope; four were in the northwestern arctic quarter; one was in the Yakutat plus Hoonah-Angoon area; 43 were in the Bethel Census Area; five were in the Bristol Bay Lake and Peninsula neighborhoods; four were in the Dillingham census area; and 19 were in the Kusilvak census area.
Six cases have been reported in non-residents, including two infections in Anchorage, one in Wasilla and three infections with the site still under investigation.
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 Sunday was 3.52% 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.