Tracking COVID-19 in Alaska: 68 cases and no deaths reported Wednesday

Alaska on Wednesday reported 68 new coronavirus infections and no deaths linked to COVID-19, according to the Department of Health and Social Services.

Alaska’s average daily case counts are now trending down significantly statewide. The state last week went from a high alert level to an intermediate alert level for the first time since September, indicating less spread and fewer cases overall, though a couple regions remain at a high alert level due to higher case rates.

In Anchorage, the acting mayor — citing a drop in COVID-19 cases and widely available vaccines — on Tuesday ended the municipality’s emergency declaration that had been in place since March 2020.

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.

[Moderna says its COVID-19 vaccine works in kids as young as 12]

By Wednesday, about 314,881 people — 52% of Alaskans 12 and older — had received at least their first dose of vaccine. At least 276,452 people — 46% of eligible Alaskans — were considered fully vaccinated, according to the state’s vaccine monitoring dashboard.

Also by Wednesday, there were 18 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.

Among the 66 cases reported among Alaska residents Wednesday, there were 17 in Anchorage, eight in Tok, seven in Ketchikan, six in Fairbanks, five in Kodiak, three in Wasilla, three in Sitka, two in Juneau, two in small communities in the Yakutat plus Hoonah-Angoon region, two in Bethel, one in a small community in the Chugach Census Area, one in Kenai, one in North Pole, one in Delta Junction, one in a small community in the Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, one in Palmer, one in Willow, one in Petersburg, one in a small community in the Bethel Census Area and two in unknown regions of the state.

Two new nonresident cases — one in Anchorage and one in Prudhoe Bay — were also reported.

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