Alaska reports new COVID-19-linked death and 4 more hospitalizations
Alaska health officials reported another death linked to COVID-19 in an Alaska resident Wednesday, bringing the total to 19 since the pandemic began in March.
The person who died was a woman from Fairbanks in her 80s with pre-existing health conditions, according to an Alaska Department of Health and Social Services spokesman.
Another four patients were added to the state’s total count of people hospitalized with the virus since March, bringing that number to 109, according to the state COVID-19 dashboard. The state listed 34 people currently hospitalized with positive or pending test results, though that number can change quickly.
Anchorage hospitals reported 16 patients infected with the virus on Tuesday, according to a municipal dashboard.
Overall, the state reported 94 new coronavirus infections on Wednesday, including 92 in residents and 2 in nonresidents. It wasn’t clear how many of the new cases were in people showing symptoms of the virus.
Anchorage residents continue to account for many of the new cases, with 42 reported in the municipality Wednesday including one in Chugiak and two in Eagle River.
Three new cases were reported on the Kenai Peninsula, two in Kenai and one in Seward; eight cases in Mat-Su, two in Palmer and six in Wasilla; 11 in the Valdez-Cordova census area, which includes Copper River communities; nine in Fairbanks and one in North Pole; three in the Yukon-Koyukuk census area, which includes Fort Yukon; one in Utqiagvik; seven in Juneau; three in Ketchikan; two in Sitka; and two classified as unknown.
The number of active coronavirus infections in Alaska reported Wednesday was 1,719 out of a total 2,619 since the pandemic began.
The state’s three-day testing positivity rate climbed above 3% Wednesday for the first time since April. The rate, which reflects the number of positive results out of total tests performed, has been climbing in recent weeks.
Health officials say the state’s relatively high testing levels no longer account for the rising numbers of cases, which are associated with community spread around the state.
A positive COVID-19 case last week in an Alaska Department of Natural Resources employee temporarily closed part of a floor of the Atwood Building in downtown Anchorage, agency officials said.
The Division of Oil and Gas employee July 14 told managers they felt sick and would work from home and get a COVID-19 test, according to DNR spokesman Dan Saddler. By the next day, the employee felt ill enough to call in sick for the rest of the week. Their positive result came back Friday.
Managers at the division immediately informed the person’s close coworkers of the symptoms, Saddler said, describing the number as “a handful.” They were asked to work from home. Tests on two additional employees came back negative.
A deputy director sent an email to a broader pool of employees on Tuesday of this week, he said. The office and the infected employee’s work station were cleaned and a contractor was brought in to do a “deep cleaning” of the office suite after the positive result came back Friday.
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