On Wednesday, the Department of Health and Social Services announced 223 new people identified with COVID-19 in Alaska. 217 were residents in: Anchorage (77), Wasilla (54), Eagle River (17), Palmer (16), Bethel Census Area (6), Chugiak (6), Fairbanks (6), Soldotna (6), Juneau (5), North Pole (3), Delta Junction (2), Kenai (2), Kenai Peninsula Borough – North (2), Sitka (2), Sterling (2), and one each in Aleutians West Census Area, Big Lake, Denali Borough, Dillingham, Fairbanks North Star Borough, Girdwood, Homer, Ketchikan, Nikiski, Seward, Yakutat plus Hoonah-Angoon.
Six new nonresident cases were identified in:
- Juneau: three with purpose under investigation
- Sitka: one with purpose under investigation
- Location under investigation: two with purpose under investigation
Two resident cases were subtracted and one nonresident case was added to the dashboard due to data verification procedures bringing the total number of Alaska resident cases to 61,695 and the total number of nonresident cases to 2,608.
HOSPITALIZATIONS & DEATHS – There have been a total of 1,382 resident hospitalizations and 309 resident deaths, with four new hospitalizations and no new deaths reported yesterday.
There are currently 37 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 who are hospitalized and seven additional patients who are considered persons under investigation (PUI) for a total of 44 current COVID-related hospitalizations. Nine of these patients are on ventilators. The percentage of patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19 is 3.8%.
TESTING – A total of 1,949,528 tests have been conducted, with 29,968 tests conducted in the previous seven days. The average percentage of daily positive tests for the previous seven days is 3.08%.
For the week of March 28 – April 3, the following variants of concern were identified in Alaska cases:
UK/B1.1.7 variant
- March 11, 2021 in Wasilla, acquired through travel.
This brings the total number of UK/B.1.1.7 cases through April 3 to three while Brazil/P.1 cases remain at five.
ALERT LEVELS – The current statewide alert level, based on the average daily case rate over 14 days per 100,000, is high at 22.45 cases per 100,000. Six regions of Alaska are in high alert status with widespread community transmission. Three regions are at intermediate alert status with moderate transmission and two regions are at low alert with minimal transmission.
High (>10 cases/100,000)
- Matanuska-Susitna Region: 48.53 cases per 100,000
- Other Interior Region: 31.97 cases per 100,000
- Anchorage Municipality: 24.13 cases per 100,000
- YK-Delta Region: 19.54 cases per 100,000
- Fairbanks North Star Borough: 15.59 cases per 100,000
- Kenai Peninsula Borough: 12.97 cases per 100,000
Intermediate (>4.8-10 cases/100,000)
- Other Southeast Region – Northern: 7 cases per 100,000
- Juneau City and Borough: 6.29 cases per 100,000
- Southwest Region: 5.35 cases per 100,000
Low (0-4.8 cases/100,000)
- Other Southeast Region – Southern: 4.7 cases per 100,000
- Northwest Region: 2.63 cases per 100,000
VACCINATIONS – 42.7% of Alaskans age 16 and older have received at least their first vaccine dose.
32.7% of Alaskans 16 and older have been fully vaccinated. The higher the vaccination rate, the more protected community members are from COVID-19. See below for percentages of all fully vaccinated Alaskans age 16 and older by region:
- Other Southeast Region – Northern: 57.5%
- YK-Delta Region: 52.9%
- Northwest Region: 45.2%
- Juneau City and Borough: 42.1%
- Southwest Region: 36.4%
- Other Southeast Region – Southern: 35%
- Other Interior Region: 33.9%
- Anchorage Municipality: 34%
- Kenai Peninsula Borough: 27.7%
- Fairbanks North Star Borough: 25.6%
- Matanuska-Susitna Region: 21.3%
For more information about vaccines, visit covidvax.alaska.gov.