Sixty-five more Alaskans and 10 nonresidents are the latest individuals to test positive for the novel coronavirus, among them an employee of Alaska Psychiatric Institute in Anchorage.
Alaska Department of Health and Social Services officials said on Thursday, July 16, that the employee was tested after becoming ill on July 8 and has not been in the facility since then.
No other staff or patients have shown symptoms of the virus.
API is working with the Division of Public Health on contact tracing investigation and to identify any additional precautionary measures needed at the hospital.
Resident cases also include 22 others in Anchorage, 17 in Fairbanks, six in North Pole, four in Soldotna, three in Kenai, two each in the Valdez-Cordova Census Area and Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area and one each in Chugiak, Haines, Kotzebue, Nikiski, Kenai Peninsula Borough South, Seward, Sterling and Wasilla.
Nonresidents afflicted included five in the Fairbanks North Star Borough and one each in the municipality of Anchorage, Kenai Peninsula Borough South, Kodiak Island Borough, Sitka city and borough, and Wrangell city and borough.
Three cases previously reported as residents have been corrected to nonresident cases, including two in Ketchikan.
A total of 1,693 residents and 339 nonresidents have tested positive to date.
As statewide cases of COVID-19 keep mounting, recoveries are too.
A total of DHSS officials said recovered cases now total 688, including 19 more newly recovered individuals recorded on Wednesday, July 15. Hospitalizations stand at 96 and the death toll at 17 individuals.
A total of 163,002 tests have now been conducted. The average percentage of daily positive test for the previous three days as of July 15 was 1.57 percent.
Updates on the impact of COVID-19 are posted daily at coronavirus-response-alaska-dhss.hub.arcgis.com.
For Cordova updates, visit the city’s COVID-19 dashboard here.
