Alaska sets new record with 186 COVID hospitalizations

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Alaska has set another new record for the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19, and reported two additional COVID-19-related deaths on Tuesday.

Over the last four days, the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services reported a total of 2,148 new COVID-19 infections among both residents and nonresidents. Of those, state data shows there were 888 new cases on Friday, 532 on Saturday, 285 on Sunday and 443 on Monday.

The state’s COVID-19 data dashboard was not updated Monday due to the Labor Day holiday.

Also on Tuesday, the state reported two additional Alaska resident deaths that were related to the virus, bringing the total to 437. Both deaths were recent, the state health department said in its daily case report.

The two people who recently died were a Fairbanks North Star Borough man in his 50s, and a Kusilvak Census Area woman in her 60s.

The state’s hospital data dashboard on Tuesday showed there are at least 186 people being hospitalized with COVID-19 statewide. That’s the highest number of COVID-19 hospitalizations the state has had at any one time during the pandemic so far. It comes as Alaska hospitals continue to operate at or near capacity, as an increase in COVID-19 patients compounds the already busy summer season, staffing shortages and staff burnout.

The hospital dashboard also showed that, as of Monday, there were 11 adult ICU beds left open in Anchorage, and available 28 statewide. There are 23 people sick enough with COVID-19 that they are on ventilators.

So far since the pandemic began, the state has recorded more than 2,100 total hospitalizations of Alaska residents for COVID-19.

As of Tuesday, the state’s vaccine monitoring dashboard showed that 55.7% of all eligible Alaskans age 12 and older are now fully vaccinated, and that just over 61% have gotten at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. When looking at the entire Alaska population, including children who are not yet eligible to be vaccinated, 46% of all Alaskans are fully vaccinated.

Since the pandemic began, the state has conducted more than 2.8 million COVID-19 tests, and currently has a seven-day average positivity rate of 8.07%. That positivity rate is inching closer to the highest rate of positive tests the state had so far in the pandemic, which was 9.31% average positivity back in November 2020.

Of the 2,148 new COVID-19 cases reported for the last four days, 2,059 of them were identified among Alaska residents of the following communities:

Anchorage: 542
Fairbanks: 233
Wasilla: 223
Palmer: 122
Utqiagvik: 96
Kenai: 89
Juneau: 75
North Pole: 61
Soldotna: 56
Bethel Census Area: 52
Ketchikan: 49
Eagle River: 43
Homer: 42
Dillingham Census Area: 26
Kodiak: 24
Big Lake: 20
North Slope Borough: 18
Dillingham: 16
Northwest Arctic Borough: 16
Sterling: 15
Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area: 15
Bethel: 14
Chugiak: 14
Kenai Peninsula Borough North: 14
Seward: 13
Willow: 10
Fairbanks North Star Borough: 9
Haines: 9
Copper River Census Area: 8
Delta Junction: 8
Kenai Peninsula Borough South: 8
Kusilvak Census Area: 8
Nome Census Area: 8
Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area: 8
Valdez: 8
Matanuska-Susitna Borough: 7
Nikiski: 7
Sitka: 7
Craig: 6
Anchor Point: 5
Hooper Bay: 5
Sutton-Alpine: 5
Unalaska: 5
Wrangell: 5
Douglas: 4
Houston: 4
Kotzebue: 4
Cordova: 3
Girdwood: 3
Aleutians East Borough: 2
Bristol Bay plus Lake and Peninsula: 2
Kodiak Island Borough: 2
Salcha: 2
Tok: 2
Chevak: 1
Chugach Census Area: 1
Denali Borough: 1
Healy: 1
Nome: 1
Skagway: 1
Yakutat plus Hoonah-Angoon: 1

The state also reported 89 new nonresident COVID-19 cases on Tuesday in the following locations:

Anchorage: 26
Unknown location: 12
Fairbanks: 7
Denali Borough: 6
Soldotna: 4
Unalaska: 4
Seward: 3
Sitka: 3
Skagway: 3
Wasilla: 3
Delta Junction: 2
Juneau: 2
Kenai: 2
North Slope Borough: 2
Palmer: 2
Bethel: 1
Cordova: 1
Homer: 1
Kenai Peninsula Borough South: 1
Kodiak: 1
Kodiak Island Borough: 1
Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area: 1
Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area: 1

Editor’s note: This article has been updated with additional information about recent COVID-19 according to residency and recent COVID-related deaths.