Tracking COVID-19 in Alaska: 40 cases and 1 death reported Wednesday – Anchorage Daily News

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Visit Healthcare COVID-19 tester Sarah Alexie prepares to take a nasal swab at the Municipality of Anchorage's newest testing site at 4700 Elmore Road that opened on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021. (Bill Roth / ADN)

The latest case count is the lowest it has been since Sept. 7, when 34 infections were reported, and is part of a trend of steadily declining cases over the last few months.

Alaska saw a surge of infections in November and early December that strained hospital capacity before leveling off.

Hospitalizations in Alaska have declined along with cases, and are now less than a quarter of what they were during the peak in November and December. Wednesday marked the first day in more than 230 days that the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage had zero patients with active COVID-19 infections, the hospital said in a statement.

The Alaska Native Medical Center reported on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021, its first day with zero patients with active COVID-19 infection in 230 days, since July 3, 2020. (Bill Roth / ADN)

By Wednesday, there were 31 people with COVID-19 in hospitals throughout the state, including two who were on ventilators. Another patient was suspected of having the virus.

The COVID-19 vaccine reached Alaska in mid-December. By Wednesday, 130,997 people nearly 18% of Alaskas total population had received at least their first vaccine shot, according to the states vaccine monitoring dashboard. Thats far above the national average of 11.9%.

Among Alaskans 16 and older, roughly 23% had received at least one dose of vaccine by Thursday, and 58% of Alaskans 65 and older had received a shot. The Pfizer vaccine has been authorized for use for people ages 16 and older, and Modernas has been cleared for use by people 18 and older.

Health care workers and nursing home staff and residents were the first people prioritized to receive the vaccine. Alaskans older than 65 became eligible in early January, and the state further widened eligibility criteria last week to include educators, people 50 and older with a high-risk medical condition, front-line essential workers 50 and older and people living or working in congregate settings like shelters and prisons.

Those eligible to receive the vaccine can visit covidvax.alaska.gov or call 907-646-3322 the number is staffed 9 a.m.-6:30 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. on weekends to sign up and to confirm eligibility.

Despite the lower case numbers, public health officials continue to encourage Alaskans to keep up with personal virus mitigation efforts like hand-washing, mask-wearing and social distancing. A highly contagious variant of the virus reached Alaska in December.

Of the 37 cases reported among Alaska residents on Wednesday, there were nine in Anchorage, 13 in Wasilla, six in Fairbanks, one in Cordova, one in Seward, one in Soldotna, one in North Pole, one in Utqiagvik, and one in Ketchikan.

Among communities with populations under 1,000 not named to protect privacy, there were three in the Kusilvak Census Area.

Three cases were also identified among nonresidents: one in Anchorage and two in Unalaska.

While people might get tested more than once, each case reported by the state health department represents only one person.

The states data doesnt specify whether people testing positive for COVID-19 have symptoms. More than half of the nations infections are transmitted from asymptomatic people, according to CDC estimates.

Of all the tests conducted over the past week, 2.42% came back positive. Health officials have said that a test positivity rate over 5% can indicate not enough testing and high rates of community spread.

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Tracking COVID-19 in Alaska: 40 cases and 1 death reported Wednesday - Anchorage Daily News