Three more Alaskans are dead after contracting COVID-19. The state Department of Health and Social Services reported the new deaths yesterday, raising Alaska’s death toll from the pandemic to 395 residents. Health officials identify the deceased patients as a Ketchikan woman who was 80 or older, an Anchorage man in his 50s, and a Wasilla man in his 70s.
The health department also reported 406 new cases of COVID-19 yesterday, including 378 resident cases. Across the Kenai Peninsula, Kenai reported 12 cases, Soldotna 11, Homer 5, Anchor Point 3, Nikiski 2, Kenai Peninsula Borough South 1, Kenai Peninsula Borough North 1, and Sterling 1. 28 nonresident cases were identified in Alaska, including 2 in Soldotna.
There are currently 126 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 who are hospitalized and three additional patients who are considered persons under investigation for a total of 129 current COVID-related hospitalizations. Eight of the patients are on ventilators.
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 288.8. For boroughs and census areas, 24 areas are at the high alert level, of which the Kenai Peninsula Borough is one of them.
58.9% of Alaskans age 12 and older have received at least their first vaccine dose. 53.1% of Alaskans age 12 and older have been fully vaccinated. 45.1% of the Kenai Peninsula Borough region is considered fully vaccinated.