The state Department of Health and Social Services reports 4,147 new coronavirus cases in the data update Wednesday from Monday and Tuesday. That number includes 8 deaths, including two infants in the Anchorage/Mat-Su Borough region under 12 months, two female residents of Anchorage in their 40s, a male resident of Anchorage in his 40s, a male Soldotna resident in his 70s, a female Soldotna resident in her 60s, and a male Wasilla resident in their 60s.
There are currently 184 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 who are hospitalized and 13 additional patients who are considered persons under investigation for a total of 197 current COVID-related hospitalizations. Five of these patients are on ventilators. The percentage of patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19 is 16.1%.
The current statewide alert level – based on the reported number of cases per 100,000 people over the past 7 days – is high (red) at 1922.3. For boroughs and census areas: 28 areas are at the high alert level.
Alaska’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Anne Zink in a Wednesday COVID-19 Science ECHO said:
“You can see that Alaska cases are kind of starting to maybe flatten outish a little bit here. We really do continue to see Omicron variant driving our cases across the country with greater than 99.9% of the COVID cases nationally. You can see, you know, it’s not growing as fast. It’s looking a little bit better in these trends. Thanks for all Alaskans doing hard work to try to keep themselves healthy and well and hoping to continue to see less people feeling miserable and feeling better. Hospitalizations, you can see, have been kind of flatter in general compared to the Delta wave overall.”
The DHSS says that protective measures against the Omicron variant remain the same as for the other COVID variants. Layering protective measures, including masking, handwashing, physical distancing, and testing help to reduce transmission of the COVID-19 virus. Using a self-test before and after travel and large gatherings is advised.