Alaska on Friday reports 559 cases of COVID-19 over 2 days

• Alaska on Friday reported 559 cases of COVID-19 over a two-day period.

• Even though cases have fallen, Alaska’s seven-day new case rate per 100,000 people is still the highest in the nation, according to a CDC tracker.

• Coronavirus deaths are now reported by the state only on Wednesdays. Since the pandemic began two years ago, 1,189 Alaskans and 33 nonresidents have died from the virus. Many of the deaths being reported in recent weeks by the state occurred weeks to months earlier.

• By Friday, there were 35 COVID-positive patients hospitalized statewide — down two from Wednesday. About 2.8% of Alaska’s hospital patients were COVID-positive. Two were on ventilators.

[Experts worry about how US will see next COVID surge coming]

• According to Alaska’s coronavirus variant dashboard, about 44% of the most recently sequenced viruses, from specimens collected in late February, were the BA.2 “stealth” omicron subvariant. BA.2 appears to be more transmissible than other variants but not more virulent, and does not seem to be better at evading immune responses conferred by vaccination or prior infection. Health officials around the world are watching BA.2 closely as some places like the United Kingdom begin to see an uptick in cases driven by the subvariant.

• As of Friday, 64.3% of eligible Alaskans as well as military personnel had completed their primary vaccine series. About 32.5% of Alaska residents age 5 and older are considered up-to-date on their vaccinations, meaning they’ve received a booster or have completed their vaccine series and are not yet due to receive a booster shot.