A surge in the spread of COVID-19 in Alaska continued in triple digits for a 35th day on Wednesday, Oct. 28, with 353 newly infected, and one additional death.
To date a total of 15,155 people have caught the virus in Alaska, including 14,097 residents and 1,058 nonresidents. Seventy-one people have died of the virus, all of them residents.
Alaska Department of Health and Social Services officials said that clinics and communities statewide have been increasing testing and identifying more cases, which are being reported to the Division of Public Health’s Section of Epidemiology.
New resident cases include:
- 168 in Anchorage,
- 55 in Wasilla,
- 23 in Fairbanks,
- 18 in Palmer,
- 13 in Kenai,
- 11 in Soldotna,
- nine in North Pole,
- seven in Eagle River,
- six in Juneau,
- five each in Dillingham Census Area and Kotzebue, four in Bethel Census Area,
- three each in Bethel, Nikiski and Tok,
- two each in Kenai Peninsula Borough North and Sterling,
- and one each in Aleutians West Census Area, Big Lake, Bristol Bay and Lake and Peninsula Borough, Chugiak, Delta Junction, Douglas, Girdwood, Kusilvak Census Area, Matanuska Susitna Borough, Meadow Lakes, Utqiagvik, Yakutat and Hoonah-Angoon, and one in an unidentified location.
Three new nonresident cases include one in Anchorage and two in unidentified locations.
Five resident cases were added, and one nonresident case removed from the data dashboard through data verification.
A total of 6,422 of the 14,097 residents who had the virus have recovered, with 7,604 cases still active. Of the 1,058 nonresident cases 645 have recuperated, leaving 413 cases active.
As of Oct. 27, there were 63 people hospitalized with confirmed cases of COVID-19, plus 17 patients considered under investigation for a total of 80 COVID-related hospitalizations, eight of whom were on ventilators. Four hundred and 13 people have been hospitalized in Alaska since the pandemic began.
The death toll rose to 71 with the death of a woman living in the Kenai Peninsula Borough North who was in her 80s.
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. DHSS officials are continuing to urge everyone to get tested if feeling ill, wear a mask and practice social distancing and hand washing to help prevent spread of the virus.
DHSS officials have submitted Alaska’s draft COVID-19 vaccination plan to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for review, as required for all states. The Alaska COVID-19 vaccine task force prepared that document as part of ongoing preparations for safe, equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccine across the state.
Dr. Anne Zink, Alaska’s chief medical officer, said they are closely watching the progress of clinical trials to ensure no steps are missed during the trial and data review process.
“For any vaccine made available to Alaskans, safety will remain our top priority,” Zink said.
The task force has already begun meeting with local partners who will play critical roles throughout the vaccine distribution process.
The draft plan and more information on the vaccination planning are on the COVID-19 vaccine information webpage dhss.alaska.gov/dph/Epi/id/SiteAssets/Pages/HumanCoV/AlaskaCOVID-19VaccinationDraftPlan.pdf.
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. 27, 580,599 tests had been conducted, including 17,044 tests in the previous seven days, DHSS officials said. The average percentage of daily positive test for the previous seven days was 6.89 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.
