There are now 2,755 active cases of COVID-19 in the state, including 223 on the Kenai Peninsula. There are 62 active cases in Soldotna, 47 in Seward, 44 in Kenai, 34 in Homer, and 17 in Sterling.

Healthy Alaskans is a long-standing partnership and joint effort of the Department of Health and the Tribal Health Consortium to provide data-driven objectives for their goals for improving the health of all Alaskans. The Healthy Alaskans 2030 plan is composed of 15 priority health topics containing 30 health objectives. Each objective has an established target to reach by 2030.

Early and absentee in-person voting is available until Monday, August 17, for the statewide Primary election, but with COVID-19, many Alaskans are unsure of where they should go to vote.

Palin advised Senator Kamala Harris to not allow herself to be “muzzled” by campaign advisors, and expressed a hope that the media treats this campaign more favorably than they did her campaign in 2008.

Library patrons would be charged for items when they are 30 days overdue, at full value plus a $5 charge. Those charges will be immediately wiped when the items are returned, to help show trust towards the community.

The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services has confirmed eight new COVID-19 cases – seven elders and one staff member – at the Anchorage Pioneer Home. These cases are in addition to the four cases announced on August 6 bringing the total number of cases at the home to 12: 10 elders and two staff members.

During a press conference held on Tuesday, Alaska officials provided an update on where the state stands with regards to dolling out relief funds and loans. An update was also provided about how the updated travel policy is working in-airports, whereby nonresident travelers must now pay for a test upon arrival to the state if they cannot provide proof of a test within 72 hours of departure.

Each Wednesday at noon, a team including Alaska’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Anne Zink, as well as Alaska’s Chief Epidemiologist, Joe McLaughlin, will discuss the latest science and the medical response to COVID-19.

Steve Branch, age 66 of Austin, Arkansas, the suspect of the 1996 sexual assault and murder of Jessica Baggen, killed himself on August 3 of this year, after denying any knowledge of the crime and refusing to provide a DNA sample. Investigators, after securing a search warrant, collected Branch’s DNA during his autopsy.

Governor Mike Dunleavy held a Tuesday press conference to update Alaskans on the state of the COVID-19 public health emergency.   In many measurable rankings, the Governor pointed out that Alaska compares favorably to other states in the nation: “Alaska remains first in testing per-capita. We still have the lowest numbers of deaths. We have the seventh lowest case-rate, even with more testing. So, Alaska’s death rate from the coronavirus is 36-per-1,000,000. We’ve, in fact, had 26 total deaths in-reality. You compare this to a state like New Jersey which was hit pretty hard. The death rate per million in New Jersey is 1,798. So, New Jersey’s rate is 1,798 compared to Alaska’s 36.”   Alaska’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Anne Zink discussed details on how numbers are being captured and provided to the public: “To be completely clear, each case is an individual person. Even if they test multiple times, positive or negative, we have a system in the background that then checks to make sure that’s all just one person. Also, many states are also putting out metrics. Some are doing total number of cases over seven days, or total number cases over 14 days, per 100,000 or…

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