State health officials say that on a per capita basis Alaska is currently the most tested state in the nation for detecting who has the COVID-19 virus.
Alaska Department of Health and Social Services officials on Tuesday, Aug. 18, cited Worldometer, a website that ranks states and countries on several key measures in the pandemic response. The testing measure is cumulative and based on all tests administered since the start of the pandemic.
Alaska also ranks first among states based on the weekly trend, said the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Research Center.
The current Johns Hopkins weekly trend for Alaska is 4.9 tests for every 1,000 people. New York state, with a rate of 4.1 tests for every 1,000 people, is the second most tested state.
Dr. Anne Zink, the state’s chief medical officer, said that Alaska has adapted in ways not imagined six months ago to do this testing, but there is much more work to do. Zink credits the testing program’s success to date to diverse partnerships that have made the COVID-19 testing accessible and affordable to anyone who needs it.
COVID-19 tests collected in Alaska are being processed by three main entities, the state Public Health Laboratories hospitals and health care facilities and commercial labs. Before the pandemic these facilities processed hundreds of tests daily, but today they are processing thousands, she said.
Efforts contributing to the testing program’s success range from a private company in Alaska making 3-D printed swabs to partnerships across the Alaska tribal health system to benefit all community members, plus community and health care facilities setting up pop-up test sites to fill specific testing needs.
