The state Department of Health and Social Services reports 5,497 new COVID-19 cases and 9 additional deaths in the COVID data update on Wednesday.
There has been a total of 3,430 resident hospitalizations and 1,048 resident deaths. 30 new resident hospitalizations and nine Alaska resident deaths were reported. There are currently 136 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 who are hospitalized and 17 additional patients who are considered persons under investigation (PUI) for a total of 153 current COVID-related hospitalizations. Four of these patients are on ventilators. The percentage of patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19 is 12.1%.
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 2369.3 For boroughs and census areas: 28 areas are at the high alert level, including the Kenai Peninsula Region.
Alaska’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Anne Zink said:
“Alaska continues to be on an upward trend. Fortunately, with Omicron, we’re seeing less severe disease so not quite the uptick in hospitalizations. It clearly spreads quickly through populations and symptoms can develop quite quickly in an individual. Viral loads might be a little bit less. This may be part of the reason why some people might be having a hard time having those tests turn out positive all the time. It also appears to have caused less severe disease. It more replicates in the upper airways rather than the lower airways. Vaccinated people are still protected from the most severe disease, however, it is able to avoid and really evade some of that antibody protection protected by vaccines and it’s part of the reason we’re seeing high breakthrough cases.”
The DHSS states 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.
