Alaska reports over 600 new COVID-19 cases on Friday

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - The state of Alaska reported over 600 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday as more boroughs and census areas across the state drop below the high alert level, and Alaska’s cases continue to decline.

The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services reported 621 cases on Friday — 372 cases from Wednesday and 249 from Thursday. Of those, four were nonresident cases. The COVID-19 alert level for the state as a whole is still high.

Alaska jumped from the state with the fourth highest rate of new cases per capita according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to the second ranked state — in part due to a bulk of nearly 600 backlogged cases from the Bethel Census Area that were reported on Wednesday. The inclusion of those older cases caused the state to show a 24% increase in new cases from the week of Feb. 25-March 3 to this week.

According to the CDC, Alaska’s rate of 359.9 new cases per 100,000 residents over the last week is second only to Idaho, whose rate is 366.9.

There are 39 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19, three of whom require ventilators. The people hospitalized with COVID-19 account for just 3.1% of all people hospitalized in Alaska.

There are 28 available intensive care unit beds across Alaska according to the hospital data dashboard, but just four in Anchorage. There have been 1,201 total COVID-19-related deaths in Alaska during the coronavirus pandemic, and 33 have been deaths of nonresidents.

Vaccine rates remained largely stagnant, according to the state’s vaccine monitoring dashboard. As of Friday, 71.2% of Alaskans and military members have had one dose, 64% have completed their primary series. Additionally, 26.9% of eligible Alaska residents have received booster shots.

There are 32.6% of Alaska residents who the state reports as up to date on their vaccination for COVID-19, and 35.6% who have no COVID-19 vaccine reported whatsoever.

There are now six Census areas and boroughs that have dropped below a high level of COVID-19 community spread, led by the Aleutians East Borough and the Wrangell City and Borough which are both at low alert levels.

Of the 621 cases reported over the last two days, 617 of them were identified among Alaska residents of the following communities:

Anchorage: 101

Bethel Census Area: 93 in 17 communities

Kusilvak Census Area: 39 in 7 communities

Nome: 39

Nome Census Area: 30 in 6 communities

Northwest Arctic Borough: 27 in 7 communities

Dillingham Census Area: 22 in 5 communities

Kenai: 20

Fairbanks: 18

Hoonah-Angoon and Yakutat combined: 17 in 3 communities

Valdez: 17

Juneau: 16

Bethel: 15

Soldotna: 15

Sitka: 11

Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area: 11 in 5 communities

Greater Palmer area: 10

Kotzebue: 10

Eagle River: 9

Greater Wasilla area: 9

Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area: 9 in 3 communities

Kodiak: 8

Bristol Bay/Lake and Peninsula combined: 7 in 2 communities

Haines: 7

Ketchikan: 7

Skagway: 5

Aleutians East Borough: 4

Cordova: 4

North Pole: 4

Kenai Peninsula Borough South: 3

Girdwood: 2

Healy: 2

Hooper Bay: 2

Juneau: 2

Nikiski: 2

North Slope Borough: 2 in 2 communities

Petersburg: 2

Sterling: 2

Anchor Point: 1

Chevak: 1

Chugiak: 1

Copper River Census Area: 1

Craig: 1

Denali Borough: 1

Homer: 1

Kenai Peninsula Borough North: 1

Ketchikan Gateway Borough: 1

Mat-Su Borough: 1

Seward: 1

Sutton-Alpine: 1

Utqiaġvik: 1

Willow: 1.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated with additional information.

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