Updated 7:20 p.m., Sept. 2.
COVID-19 claimed the lives of two more elderly Alaskans this week, boosting the resident death toll to 39, with a total number of infections reaching 5,364 residents and 869 nonresidents, state health officials said.
The deaths of a man in his 70s and a woman in her 80s, both Anchorage residents, were reported on Tuesday, Sept. 1, by the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services.
Another 46 residents remain hospitalized with COVID-related issues, while 2,051 others have recovered, DHSS officials said.
Two thousand and 85 residents and 196 nonresidents who were infected with the novel coronavirus have recovered. There have been a total of 230 hospitalizations, including 41 individuals who are currently hospitalized.
Alaska Department of Health and Social Services officials on Wednesday, Sept. 2 added 69 more people to the list of infected, including 68 residents in 13 communities. That included 30 people in Anchorage, 19 in Fairbanks, four in Palmer, three in North Pole, two each in Kenai, Soldotna and Utqiagvik and one each in Bristol Bay plus Lake and Peninsula Borough, Eagle River, Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, Juneau, Wasilla and Yakutat plus Hoonah-Angoon.
The lone nonresident case reported in Ketchikan is under investigation too.
Earlier in the week DHSS officials said three more staff and three youths at McLaughlin Youth Center in Anchorage plus an additional staff member at the Anchorage Pioneer Home have tested positive, but did not indicate if they were included in the updated statewide COVID-19 infection count.
According to DHSS, the McLaughlin staff who tested positive will remain in isolation until cleared by health officials and the youths infected are isolated and have not experienced symptoms of the virus. At the Pioneer Home, tree of five staff who initially tested positive have recovered, as well as 10 of the 14 elderly resident who tested positive.
A DHSS spokesperson said on Thursday, Aug. 27, that there is sometimes a data entry lag when there is a large batch of cases, because DHSS prioritizes the response to the cases over the data entry, and some communities release information about positive cases before those numbers are included in the COVID-19 data dashboard.
The DHSS daily report reflects data from 12 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. which is posted at noon daily on the Alaska Coronavirus Response Hub.
As of Sept. 1, 376,884 tests had been conducted. The average percentage of daily positive test for the previous seven days as of Sept. 1 was 1.96 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.
