Five novel coronavirus cases were reported in Cordova from Aug. 16-22, the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services announced. Of those cases, all five were residents.
A cumulative total of 304 coronavirus cases have been reported in Cordova, of which 281 have been Alaska residents and 23 have been non-residents, according to DHSS data. A cumulative total of four people who tested positive for the virus have been hospitalized in Cordova. A total of one person who tested positive for the virus has died in Cordova.
Fifty-four percent of people in the Valdez-Cordova Census Area have received at least one dose of novel coronavirus vaccine, according to DHSS data. Sixty-four percent of people age 12 and over in the census area have received at least one dose of vaccine.
Local infection numbers have been declining at a good rate, Heather Brannon, the city’s emergency management coordinator, told Cordova City Council Aug. 18. However, local vaccination numbers have increased slowly, she said.
“I do know that every testing pod that we do, as the weeks go by, we seem to be getting a few more people here and there that want to become vaccinated, so the number is increasing, but it’s a very slow climb,” Brannon said.
To date, all COVID-19 cases that have been hospitalized or that have ended up seeking medical attention have been unvaccinated, City Manager Helen Howarth told the council.
“Those are the numbers that make our medical teams very nervous — those are the numbers that cause our hospitals to get full with people who need special care,” Howarth said. “I can only say at this moment in time that I am trying very hard to thread a needle, not to separate our community, but to keep it safe.”
