66 new COVID-19 cases reported Friday

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services reported 66 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, and no additional deaths related to the virus.

The state reports new COVID-19 cases daily throughout the week, but no longer updates data over the weekend. New cases from Saturday and Sunday will be reported on Monday.

With no new COVID-19-related deaths reported Friday, a total of 362 Alaska resident deaths have been tied to the virus, and the state still has one of the lower death rates in the country.

Of the 66 new COVID-19 cases reported Friday, 63 of them were identified among Alaska residents of the following communities:

Anchorage: 11
Ketchikan: 8
Wasilla: 8
Fairbanks: 7
Metlakatla: 7
Eagle River: 3
Delta Junction: 2
Matanuska-Susitna Borough: 2
Southeast Fairbanks Census Area: 2
Bethel Census Area: 1
Chugach Census Area: 1
Healy: 1
Juneau: 1
Ketchikan Gateway Borough: 1
Nome: 1
Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area: 1
Palmer: 1
Sitka: 1
Soldotna: 1
Unalaska: 1
Yakutat plus Hoonah-Angoon: 1
Kusilvak Census Area: 1

The state also reported three additional nonresident cases of COVID-19 on Friday.

There are currently 21 people being hospitalized for COVID-19 statewide, along with three people being hospitalized for suspected cases, according to the state’s coronavirus response hub. One of those patients is on a ventilator.

As of Friday, close to 54% of Alaskans age 16 and older have gotten an initial dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to the state’s vaccine monitoring dashboard, and nearly 48% are fully vaccinated.

Vaccination rates vary across the state. DHSS reports that 69% of Alaskans 16 and older in the Juneau region are fully vaccinated, while 50.5% are fully vaccinated in Anchorage and close to 33% are fully vaccinated in the Matanuska-Susitna region.

The statewide alert level is intermediate, and Alaska has an average daily case rate over the last 14 days of 9.43 cases per 100,000.

Alaska has conducted more than 2.22 million COVID-19 tests since the pandemic began, and currently has a seven-day average positivity rate of 1.65%.