Updated 4:10 p.m., Oct. 7
Fourteen straight days of triple-digit increases of newly infected people put Alaska’s overall COVID-19 patient total at 9,861 on Wednesday, Oct. 7, including 8,878 residents and 983 nonresidents, state health officials said.
Alaska Department of Health and Social Services officials also reported the virus death of an Anchorage man in his 70s, bringing the statewide death toll to 59 people.
The new numbers come on the heels of a report on Monday, Oct. 5, from the Department of Health and Social Services, of 197 new cases, a record daily count for the state.
Department of Health and Social Services officials said on Oct. 7, that 116 more individuals had tested positive for the novel coronavirus, all of them Alaska residents. The newly diagnosed in 14 communities include 56 in Anchorage, 28 in Fairbanks, 12 in Nome Census Area, five in North Pole, three in Seward, two each in Chugiak, Juneau and Kotzebue and one each in Bethel, Big Lake, Eagle River, Healy, Northwest Arctic Borough and Yukon Koyukuk Census Area. No new nonresident cases were identified.
Ten new resident and three nonresident cases have been added to the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services data dashboard, DHSS officials said.
DHSS also confirmed on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 28 new COVID-19 cases at the Fairbanks Pioneer Home since Sept. 21, including nine residents and 19 staff members. Prior to that date there have been six other cases, one resident and five staff members, all of whom are now considered recovered.
Statewide numbers for the increase in COVID-19 infections are at an all-time high and Alaska’s overall alert level continued to be high and trending up, said DHSS officials, who again urged everyone to get tested if feeling ill, wear a mask, practice social distancing and hand washing, to help prevent spread of the virus.
There have been a total of 310 hospitalizations since the novel coronavirus pandemic was first confirmed in Alaska months ago, and 59 deaths.
Health officials said there are currently 34 people diagnosed with COVID-19 who are hospitalized, and 12 additional patients considered persons under investigation, for a total of 46 current COVID-related hospitalizations. Six of these patients are on ventilators.
Most cases and the most deaths from the virus have been in the state’s largest population areas, led by the Municipality of Anchorage, the Fairbanks North Star Borough, and the city and borough of Juneau.
Statewide updates are provided daily by state health officials Alaska’s COVID-19 dashboard at covid19.alaska.gov.
The DHSS daily report reflects data from midnight to 11:59 p.m. which is posted at noon daily on the Alaska Coronavirus Response Hub.
As of Oct. 6, 490,074 tests had been conducted, including 14,027 tests in the previous seven days, DHSS officials said. The average percentage of daily positive test for the previous seven days was 4.28 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.
