Tracking COVID-19 in Alaska: 45 cases and no deaths reported Thursday

Alaska on Thursday reported 45 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 — this week 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.

By Thursday, about 315,627 people — 52% of Alaskans 12 and older — had received at least their first dose of vaccine. At least 277,243 people — 46% of eligible Alaskans — were considered fully vaccinated, according to the state’s vaccine monitoring dashboard.

Also by Thursday, there were 20 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.

Of the 43 cases reported among Alaska residents Thursday, there were nine in Anchorage, two in Chugiak, two in Eagle River, one in Homer, two in Kenai, five in Fairbanks, one in Delta Junction, one in Tok, three in Wasilla, eight in Ketchikan, one in Metlakatla, two in Sitka, one in Unalaska, one in Bethel and one in Hooper Bay.

Among smaller communities not named to protect privacy, there was one in the Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, one in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough and one in the Kusilvak Census Area.

Two new nonresident cases were also reported — one in Fairbanks and one in Wasilla.

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