Alaska News

Tracking COVID-19 in Alaska: 232 new cases of COVID-19 reported Saturday, no new deaths

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The state reported 232 new cases of COVID-19 in Alaska on Saturday with no new deaths — the highest daily increase since the start of the pandemic, according to the Department of Health and Social Services COVID-19 dashboard.

The high numbers on Saturday mark the 17th straight day in which Alaska cases have tipped into triple digits, soaring past a previous surge that took place in July.

Sixty Alaskans have died with COVID-19 since the pandemic began here in March.

Statewide as of Saturday, 44 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 while 22 other hospital patients were awaiting test results, according to state data.

Schools across Southcentral Alaska have been contending with how, and whether, to provide in-person learning during the pandemic. Cases were identified in multiple schools over the past week, prompting some of them to close temporarily. The latest to shutter its doors is Eagle River Christian School, which has closed for in-person classes for two weeks and is holding virtual classes instead, principal Michelle Caldwell said Friday. Anchorage public health officials are conducting contact tracing, according to Caldwell, who did not say how many cases of COVID-19 are connected to the school.

Of the new cases, it wasn’t clear how many patients were showing symptoms of the virus when they tested positive.

Of the 230 new cases of COVID-19 involving residents, 128 were in Anchorage, two were in Chugiak; 11 were in Eagle River; one was in Girdwood; two were in Fritz Creek; three were in Homer; six were in Kenai; one was in Seward, one was in Soldotna; two were in Sterling; one was in Cordova; two were in Healy; 24 were in Fairbanks; seven were in North Pole; seven in Palmer; eight in Wasilla, one in Willow; three were in Kotzebue; four were in Juneau; one was in Ketchikan; four were in Bethel and two were in Dillingham.

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Among communities smaller than 1,000 not identified to protect confidentiality, there was one case in the Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area; one in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough; two in the Nome Census Area; two in the Northwest Arctic Borough; one in the Aleutians East Borough; one in the Bethel Census Area and one in the Kusilvak Census Area.

Of the two nonresident cases, one was in Soldotna and one was in Anchorage.

The state’s test positivity rate as of Saturday was 4.52% over a seven-day rolling average. The rate reflects the number of positive results divided by total tests performed. Health officials say levels over 5% may indicate communities aren’t doing enough testing. Friday was the first time the state’s average positivity rate passed that threshold before dipping slightly back down by Saturday.

— Morgan Krakow and Emily Goodykoontz

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly reported that 10 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 while another person was awaiting a test result statewide. This was due to inaccurate information displayed on the state’s coronavirus dashboard. Statewide as of Saturday, 44 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 while 22 other hospital patient were awaiting test results, according to state data.

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