The Alaska Department of Social Services announced a total of 194 people testing positive with COVID-19 in Alaska combined across Saturday and Sunday. Of those 194 people, 154 are Alaska residents. The Kenai Peninsula was not immune to this spike in numbers, with five residents being from Soldotna, three from Kenai, and two in Seward. There was also one nonresident case in a Seward seafood industry worker. Anchorage was also heavily hit, with a total of 58 residents testing positive over the weekend.
The new daily high for COVID-19 positive cases among Alaskan residents was set on Sunday, where 93 of the weekend’s 154 residents were reported.
There have now been a total of 1,479 cases among residents in Alaska. Of those cases, 615 have recovered and 17 have died.
That leaves a total of 847 active COVID-19 cases, among residents, the state. Of those cases, 27 are currently hospitalized. In the Kenai Peninsula, there are 119 active cases.
Inpatient bed capacity is still strong, with 644 available. A total of 86 ICU beds also remain available, and 262 ventilators are available, with only 22 currently in-use, among COVID and non-COVID patients.
Alaska’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Anne Zink, noted on a Sunday Facebook post that there is a clear trend towards younger positive cases. She also recently offered advice for how Alaskans can help curb this severe spike: “This is the time to be able to hunker back down, making sure that you are doing the things that you can to minimize the spread of the disease, minimize your contact with others, extended time within indoor facilities. Instead of going to a restaurant, order out from your favorite restaurant. Drive your RV up and have a nice night up in your RV and not in the restaurant itself. Try ot order out food for delivery from your grocery store instead of going inside the store. This is no the time to be getting together in larger gatherings, or even medium gatherings. Keep those bubbles really small as we really try to keep the lid on COVID-19.”
The average percentage of daily positive tests for the previous three days is 1.54%.
