Five more people testing positive for the novel coronavirus pushed the total of infected Alaskans to 277 on Monday, April 13, with 32 hospitalized and 85 people now recovered from the pandemic.
The Blood Bank of Alaska, in Anchorage, is asking eligible patients who have fully recovered from the virus to donate convalescent plasma, which contains antibodies that may be used to treat those infected with the same virus.
Blood bank officials said the request from the Food and Drug Administration was to offer an additional form of treatment for those critically ill with COVID-19. While clinical trials are being performed for widespread use of this treatment, the FDA has authorized patients with, or at risk of, severe or life-threatening COVID-19 virus to receive this treatment through an expanded access program.
Four new cases in Anchorage raised the city total to 131 infected, while the addition of one in Juneau boosted the capital city’s number of infected to 17. The Juneau resident is a staff worker at Lemon Creek Correctional Center and the third staff member there to test positive for the virus. In addition, a new case from test results reported on Monday, April 13 is also an employee at Lemon Creek. Due to reporting protocols, that case will be counted on Tuesday, April 14. The city and borough of Juneau noted in a press release that there are no known cases of the virus among inmates, who are being monitored for symptoms.
Other areas with confirmed cases of the virus include the Fairbanks North Star Borough 79; Ketchikan Gateway Borough 15; Kenai Peninsula Borough 15, Matanuska-Susitna Borough 14; Petersburg Borough 2; and one each in Prince of Wales-Hyder census area, Yukon-Koyukuk census area, Bethel census area and Southeast Fairbanks census area.
Alaska continues to have the lowest number of those infected of all 50 states.
Nationwide some 587,583 people have tested positive and 23,748 have died, but another 32,427 people have recovered. In the hardest hit state, New York, 195,655 people have tested positive and 10,251 have succumbed to the virus, while another 13,366 people have recovered.
Global cases have reached 1,928,162 infected, with 448,384 people recovered, but another 119,802 dead from the virus.
The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services has announced a series of surveys of Alaska families to find out how the pandemic is affecting their lives. DHSS officials said the pandemic is affecting families with children and teens in multiple ways and the Division of Public Health is seeking public input on challenges Alaskans are facing, so they can improve programs serving these families.
Those who would like to respond to the survey can text “AKFAMILY” to 907-269-0344 or access the surveys online at dhss.alaska.gov/dph/wcfh/Pages/mchepi.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy said the state is preparing to implement a temporary quarantine and isolation program utilizing non-congregate shelter solutions, including hotels, college and university dormitories and other non-traditional structures to house three specific populations.
These include first responders and healthcare workers who need to quarantine without exposing their families, homeless families with at least one member testing positive who are living in congregate shelters and need isolation, and homeless individuals requiring quarantine or isolation.
This past week the state imposed several mandates that have closed all K-12 schools in the state down for the rest of the school year and ordered postponement of a number of medical procedures they deemed elective, citing the need to preserve medical supplies to prepare urban and rural Alaska for an anticipated surge of more people testing positive.
State officials also have announced suspension of deadlines for a number of fees and recertifications, as well as fees for restaurants that have closed or are operating at reduced capacity due to the virus and the health candidates, Dunleavy said.
More information on the state’s economic recovery plan is online at gov.alaska.gov/home/covid-19-economy.
The state’s economy has meanwhile been smacked sideways by the combination of low oil prices and the number of businesses forced to close or limit their activity in an effort to slow the spread of the virus.
Some 36,000 Alaskans are now jobless and trying to apply for unemployment, a process slowed by a lack of enough employees and equipment issues.
“We are working real hard to get the economy going again,” Dunleavy said. “We are trying to small communities, including Cordova, on their right to impose their own restrictions on those coming into the community.”
A number of rural communities, including Cordova, have started imposing their own restrictions to keep the virus from spreading into their area. The governor noted that some of them, including Cordova, had medical facilities that are considered critical access hospitals, so they could not shut down airports, which are regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration, in an effort to keep people who might be infected from coming into the community.
