Tracking COVID-19 in Alaska: 4 recent deaths and 56 new cases reported Tuesday

Alaska on Tuesday reported 56 cases of COVID-19 and four deaths linked to the virus, according to the Department of Health and Social Services.

State health officials said the newly reported deaths involved an Anchorage man in his 70s, a Wasilla man in his 60s, a Wasilla woman in her 60s and a woman from the Southeast Fairbanks Census Area in her 50s. All of the deaths occurred recently, officials said Tuesday.

In total, 362 Alaskans and six nonresidents with COVID-19 have died since the pandemic reached the state last spring. Alaska’s death rate per capita remains among the lowest in the country, though the state’s size, health care system and other factors complicate national comparisons.

Alaska’s average daily case counts are now trending down significantly statewide, though a few regions in the state are still in the highest alert category based on their current per capita rate of infection.

Anyone 12 and older who lives or works in Alaska can now receive a COVID-19 vaccination. Alaskans can visit covidvax.alaska.gov or call 907-646-3322 to sign up for a vaccine appointment, and new appointments are added regularly. The phone line is staffed from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekends.

Only Pfizer’s vaccine is approved for children as young as 12; the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are approved only for those 18 and older.

By Tuesday, 315,049 people — about 53.1% of Alaskans age 16 and older — had received at least their first dose. At least 275,567 people — 47.4% of Alaskans 16 and older — were considered fully vaccinated, according to the state’s vaccine monitoring dashboard.

By Tuesday, there were 27 people with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 in hospitals throughout the state, far below a peak in late 2020.

Of the 52 cases reported Tuesday among Alaska residents, there were 18 in Anchorage plus two in Eagle River; six in Ketchikan; four in Wasilla; three in Fairbanks; three in Big Lake; three in Palmer; three in Juneau; one in Homer; one in Kenai; one in Seward; one in Soldotna; one in Kodiak; one in North Pole; one in Nome; and one in Bethel.

In smaller communities that are not named to protect residents’ privacy, there was one in the Yakutat plus Hoonah Angoon region and one in the Bethel Census Area.

Four new nonresident cases were also identified: two in Anchorage, one in Fairbanks and one in Ketchikan.

While people might get tested more than once, each case reported by the state health department represents only one person.

The state’s data doesn’t specify whether people testing positive for COVID-19 have symptoms. More than half of the nation’s infections are transmitted from asymptomatic people, according to CDC estimates.

— Annie Berman