Eight hundred and 48 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Alaska from Dec. 24 through Monday, Dec. 27, including one in Cordova and five in the Copper River census area.
The new cases boosted the total number of resident cases since March 2020 to 150,643 residents, up from 149,591 a week earlier. The total included 794 residents and 54 nonresidents.
The state remains on red alert, based on the number of cases per 100,000 people over the past week.
State health officials have confirmed five cases of the new omicron variant of the novel coronavirus.
The Centers for Disease Control meanwhile halved the recommended isolation period for people testing positive for the virus who show no symptoms to five days. With cases of the Omicron virus soaring nationwide, those testing positive with symptoms were still advised to isolate for 10 days. All those completing isolation periods were still advised to wear masks around others for an additional five days.
The number of residents who have succumbed to COVID-19 stood at 945, with no new deaths reported over the past weekend. The number of residents hospitalized rose to 3,249, up from 3,204 last week.
After months of reminders from the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services that getting vaccinated is the best protection against COVID-19, the percentage of Alaskans age 5 and older who are fully vaccinated stands at 60.3% and the number of residents 5 and older who have received at least one dose of vaccine stands at 67.5%.
New resident cases included:
- Anchorage 266
- Fairbanks 86
- Juneau 64
- Greater Wasilla Area 57
- Ketchikan 33
- Sitka 24
- Eagle River 22
- Kusilvak Census Area 20
- North Pole 19
- Greater Palmer Area, Homer, 18
- Soldotna 14
- Kodiak 11
- Hooper Bay, Nome Census Area, 10
- Bethel Census Area 9
- Hoonah-Angoon and Yakutat, Northwest Arctic Borough 8
- Anchor Point, Peterburg 6
- Copper River Census Area, Delta Junction, Girdwood, Houston/Big Lake Area, Sterling 5
- Chugiak, Dillingham Census Area, Kenai, Kotzebue 4
- Bethel, Bristol Bay/Lake and Peninsula boroughs, Matanuska Borough, Nome, North Slope Borough, Willow 3
- Craig, Dillingham, Dutch Harbor, Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area, Unalaska 2
- Aleutians East Borough, Cordova, Denali Borough, Kenai Peninsula Borough-North, Kenai Peninsula Borough-South, Kodiak Island Borough, Metlakatla, Nikiski, Seward, Skagway, Southeast Fairbanks Census Area Sutton-Alpine, Utqiagvik, Valdez, Wrangell and Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area 1
The 54 nonresident cases included 11 in Kodiak, four in Wasilla, three in Fairbanks and Willow, two in Anchorage and Kotzebue, and one each Juneau, Soldotna, Homer and an undisclosed location.
As of Dec. 27, 57 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 were hospitalized, as well as two others under investigation for the virus, for a total of 59 hospitalizations, include 14 people on ventilators.
A total of 3,672,211 tests have been conducted for COVID-19, including 18,525 tests in the week preceding Dec. 27.
Cases reported by the state may be behind reporting by local officials. Cordova’s COVID-19 dashboard shows zero new and active cases. Check for updates at covid19.cityofcordova.net. Cordova’s mitigation plan risk level remains at Level 2 Watch/Caution/Low Risk.
