Alaska reports 428 COVID-19 cases, no deaths over the weekend

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - The state reported 428 new COVID-19 cases on Monday and no new deaths over the last three days. Alaska’s rate of new cases per capita now ranks 35th among states across the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Of the 428 new cases reported by the state health department, 176 were reported Saturday, 92 on Sunday and 149 on Monday. The state case data shows a 9% decrease in cases last week compared to the week before. There were also six nonresident cases reported since the state last provided new case data on Friday. The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services earlier this month moved to reporting new cases only on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

All but three states in the U.S. are in the high alert level, according to the CDC. The CDC reports the nationwide average COVID-19 case rate as 279.7 cases per 100,000 people, while Alaska’s is at 163.8. There have been 915 total COVID-19-related deaths of Alaskan residents and 31 COVID-19 related deaths of nonresidents in Alaska since the start of the pandemic.

The state reports that 65 people are hospitalized statewide with COVID-19 and 11 require ventilators. That figure has fallen dramatically from when Alaska had the highest case rate in the nation and local hospitals were enacting crisis standards of care, with more than 200 statewide COVID-19 hospitalizations in October. Of the entire population of people hospitalized in Alaska, those hospitalized with COVID-19 make up 5.5%.

The rate of those fully vaccinated slightly increased over the weekend, as 60.1% of Alaska residents now qualify as fully vaccinated, while 67.2% have received one dose and 20.1% have received booster doses of the vaccine. The rolling percentage of positive tests is 3.41%, and health officials have said that 5% is the threshold for high community spread.

The state alert level remains high, and six more boroughs and census areas have moved into the high alert level since the state last reported data on Friday. There are now 21 census areas and boroughs at a high alert level while two are qualified as substantial, two as moderate and three are at a low level.

Of the 426 COVID-19 cases reported by the state on Monday, 422 of them were identified among residents of the following communities:

The state health department reported that the location of one resident case is under investigation.

Of the six nonresident cases identified by the state health department since Friday, two were reported in Fairbanks and one each in the Northwest Arctic Borough, Wasilla, Anchorage and Juneau.

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