The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services reports that 1,387 COVID-19 cases, 53 deaths and 139 hospitalizations were reported in the COVID weekend update on Monday from Friday through Sunday.
Of the COVID-19 cases reported, 1,370 were reported in residents while 17 cases were identified in nonresidents. Soldotna reported 31 cases, Kenai 22, Homer 21, Anchor Point 7, Kenai Peninsula Borough North 6, Kenai Peninsula Borough South 6, Seward 4, Nikiski 3, and Sterling 3.
53 deaths were listed in the weekend data update. Of those, 50 were residents and 3 were nonresidents. The DHSS states that the large batch of deaths occurred from August through November, with most fatalities in September. A female Kenai resident in her 70s was identified as one of the recent deaths.
There are currently 139 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 who are hospitalized and four additional patients who are considered persons under investigation for a total of 143 current COVID-related hospitalizations. Eighteen of those patients are on ventilators. The percentage of patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19 is 12.5%. Central Peninsula Hospital published a graphic on Monday indicating that they won’t be updating the daily count graphic unless the numbers of COVID-19 patients increases above the threshold.
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 548.4, but slowly starting to decrease. For boroughs and census areas: 25 areas are at the high alert level, including the Kenai Peninsula Region.
59% of Alaskans aged 5 and older have received at least their first vaccine dose. 54% of Alaskans aged 5 and older have been fully vaccinated. 45% of the Kenai Peninsula Region are considered fully vaccinated.
NOTE – There is a lag between cases being reported on the DHSS data dashboard and what local communities report. Each case is an individual person even if they are tested multiple times. Total tests are a not a count of unique individuals tested and includes both positive and negative results. The current number of hospitalized patients represents more real-time data compared to the cumulative total hospitalizations. Current hospitalizations are reported for all facilities, not just general acute care and critical access facilities. Total number of hospital beds available fluctuate daily as the number of available hospital staff changes. Alert levels are provided to show trends and patterns over time as there can be substantial day-to-day variation in reporting of cases to DHSS. Alert levels show how widespread the virus is in a community relative to its population size and are a good tool to determine weekly trends for specific geographic areas. All data reported in real-time, on a daily basis, should be considered preliminary and subject to change.
