A Cordova woman aged 80 or older died of COVID-19, the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services announced Tuesday, Oct. 19. A cumulative total of three people have died of the virus in Cordova, including a woman in her 60s whose death was reported Oct. 11.
The announcement was part of a DHSS data release that included information on the COVID-19-related deaths of 65 Alaska residents and one non-resident. Some of those deaths occurred as early as April, DHSS officials said. However, the vast majority of fatalities included in the release occurred in September or October. Ten of the deaths were recent, with others identified through the death certificate review process.
One new resident novel coronavirus case was reported in Cordova between Oct. 12-18, DHSS announced. A cumulative total of 348 virus cases have been reported in Cordova, of which 321 have been Alaska residents and 27 have been non-residents. A cumulative total of seven people have been hospitalized with the virus in Cordova, of which six have been residents and one has been a non-resident.
Fifty-seven percent of people in the Valdez-Cordova Census Area have received at least one dose of novel coronavirus vaccine, according to DHSS data. Sixty-eight percent of people aged 12 and over in the census area have received at least one dose of vaccine.
Alaska hospitals struggled throughout September during an infection surge which kept most of the state at a high alert level.
“The same standard of care that was previously there is no longer able to be given on a regular basis,” Alaska chief medical officer Dr. Anne Zink told the Associated Press Oct. 5. “This has been happening for weeks.”
