Tracking COVID-19 in Alaska: 88 new cases, no new deaths reported Saturday

The state on Saturday reported 88 new cases of COVID-19, according to the Department of Health and Social Services COVID-19 dashboard.

The state announced no new deaths. Forty five Alaskans have died with COVID-19 since the pandemic began here in March. The state’s death rate remains one of the lowest in the nation.

Statewide as of Saturday, 37 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 while another four hospital patients were awaiting test results, according to state data. Of those hospital patients, 13 were on ventilators Saturday.

Active cases of COVID-19 among Alaska residents rose from 4,400 Friday to 4,472 Saturday. There were 719 actives cases among nonresidents Saturday.

Of the new cases, it wasn’t clear how many people with COVID-19 were showing symptoms of the virus when they tested positive.

Of the 86 new cases of COVID-19 involving Alaska residents, 54 were in Anchorage, including one in Chugiak; one was in Seward; 12 were in Fairbanks; one was in Palmer; five were in Wasilla; four were in Utqiagvik; one was in Kotzebue; one was in Douglas and three were in Juneau.

Among communities smaller than 1,000 not identified to protect confidentiality, there was one case in the Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area; one in the Northwest Arctic Borough and two in the Bethel Census Area.

Of the two nonresident cases, one was in Anchorage and one was in the Bethel Census Area.

The state’s testing positivity rate as of Saturday was 2.24% over a seven-day rolling average.