Tracking COVID-19 in Alaska: 97 cases and 1 death reported Wednesday

Alaska on Wednesday reported 97 new cases of COVID-19 and the death of a Palmer man in his 60s linked to the virus, according to the Department of Health and Social Services.

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 of vaccine. At least 275,567 people — 47.4% of Alaskans 16 and older — were considered fully vaccinated, according to the state’s vaccine monitoring dashboard, which hadn’t yet been updated as of early Wednesday afternoon.

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

In total, 362 Alaskans and seven 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. Four recent deaths were reported by the state Tuesday.

Of the 95 cases reported Wednesday among Alaska residents, there were 22 in Anchorage, plus one in Chugiak and three in Eagle River; 12 in Ketchikan; nine in Fairbanks; nine in Wasilla; six in Palmer; four in Hooper Bay; two in North Pole; two in Ester; two in Craig; two in Metlakatla; one in Anchor Point; one in Homer; one in Sterling; one in Delta Junction; one in Tok; one in Juneau; and one in Petersburg.

In smaller communities that are not named to protect residents’ privacy, there were eight in the Chugach Census Area, two in the Ketchikan Gateway Borough, two in the Aleutians East Borough and two in the Bethel Census Area.

Two new nonresident cases, one in Anchorage and one in Juneau, were also identified.

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

[Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that the new death reported Wednesday involved a Palmer man in his 60s, not a nonresident in Anchorage. The state health department’s data showed an additional Anchorage nonresident death due to the reclassification of a death originally reported to involve an Anchorage resident.]