State announces two coronavirus deaths, as active COVID-19 count hits new high

Two more Alaskans with COVID-19 have died, according to state health officials. Both were staying at long-term-care facilities in other states when they died in early May. 

Both deaths were recently reported to the state, according to a spokesperson for the state Department of Health and Social Services. 

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Both had their Alaska residence in Juneau. One died in Washington state. The other was in New Jersey. The deaths raise the total number of Alaskans who the state has reported as having died with the disease to 14. 

Alaska’s active case count hit a new high as 30 more people tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday, according to numbers from the state Department of Health and Social Services. 

The number of active cases is now at 303 up from yesterday’s high of 291. 

Of the new cases, 20 are Alaska residents and 10 are nonresidents, including another five seafood workers in Bristol Bay. 

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Of the resident cases, seven were in the Anchorage area, four in the Mat-Su Borough, three in the Fairbanks North Star Borough, two in the Kenai, two in Juneau and one in Sitka. 

The national practice is to report deaths in the official state of residence, rather than the state people are in when they die. 

Lex Treinen with Alaska Public Media contributed to this report.