CORRECTION: Alaska COVID-19 Case Count Summary: Oct. 16, 2020

CORRECTION: A previous version of the case count summary inadvertently left off two Valdez-Cordova Census Area cases.

CASE COUNT SUMMARY, Friday, Oct. 16, 2020

DHSS today announced one death and 220 new people identified with COVID-19 in Alaska. 218 are residents in: Anchorage (99), Fairbanks (17), Utqiaġvik (13), Wasilla (13), North Pole (10), Bethel Census Area (9), Eagle River (8), Juneau (8), Bethel (7), Kodiak (5), Kotzebue (4), Palmer (4), Chugiak (2), Cordova (2), Dillingham Census Area (2), Healy (2), Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area (2), Valdez-Cordova Census Area (2) and one each in Bristol Bay/Lake & Peninsula boroughs, Dillingham, Homer, Kenai, Skagway, Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, Valdez, Yakutat Borough/Hoonah-Angoon Census Area and Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area.

Two new nonresident cases were identified in:

• Utqiaġvik: one in ‘other industry’
• Location under investigation: one with a purpose still under investigation

Eight resident cases have been added to the data dashboard through data verification procedures. This brings the total number of Alaska resident cases to 10,549 and the total number of nonresident cases to 1,027.

ALERT LEVELS – The current statewide alert level, based on the average daily case rate over 14 days per 100,000 population, is high at 23.03 per 100,000. Regional alert levels are noted below:

High (>10 cases/100,000)

• Northwest Region: 35.93 cases per 100,000
• Fairbanks North Star Borough: 34.49 per 100,000 population
• Anchorage Municipality: 31.33 cases per 100,000 population
• YK-Delta Region: 30.13 cases per 100,000
• Other Interior Region: 13.71 per 100,000 population
• Juneau City and Borough: 10.94 per 100,000 population

Intermediate (5-10 cases/100,000)

• Matanuska-Susitna Region: 10 per 100,000 population
• Kenai Peninsula Borough: 9.55 per 100,000 population
• Southwest Region: 7.17 per 100,000 population

Low (<5 cases/100,000)

• Other Southeast Region - Southern: 3.23 per 100,000 population
• Other Southeast Region - Northern: 2.1 per 100,000 population

CASES: SEX & AGES – Of the 218 Alaska residents, 108 are male, 109 are female and one is unknown. Ten are under the age of 10; 20 are aged 10-19; 45 are aged 20-29; 42 are aged 30-39; 42 are aged 40-49; 28 are aged 50-59; 20 are aged 60-69; eight are aged 70-79 and three are aged 80 or older.

CASES: HOSPITALIZATIONS & DEATHS – There have been a total of 354 hospitalizations and 66 deaths, with one new recent death reported. The individual who died was a male Fairbanks resident in his 80s. Our thoughts are with the individual’s family, loved ones and community.

Individuals who no longer require isolation (recovered cases) total 5,605.

There are currently 51 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 who are hospitalized and 8 additional patients who are considered persons under investigation (PUI) for a total of 59 current COVID-related hospitalizations. Eight of these patients are on ventilators.

TESTING – A total of 522,664 tests have been conducted, with 10,754 tests conducted in the previous seven days. The average percentage of daily positive tests for the previous seven days is 5.16%.

Notes: Cases reported to the Section of Epidemiology are increasing. Reports are received electronically, by phone and by fax. Cases are verified, redundancies are eliminated and then cases are entered into the data system that feeds into Alaska’s Coronavirus Response Hub. Because of the number of reports being received, it may take a day or two after receipt to get a report entered and counted. Extra personnel will continue to focus on the effort to process and count reports and minimize the delay from receipt to posting on the hub. Daily case counts in the near future seem likely to remain at this level or higher.

This report reflects data from 12 a.m. until 11:59 p.m. on Oct. 15 that posted at noon today on the Alaska Coronavirus Response Hub. There is a lag between cases being reported on the DHSS data dashboard and what local communities report. Each case is an individual person even if they are tested multiple times. Total tests are a not a count of unique individuals tested and includes both positive and negative results. The current number of hospitalized patients represents more real-time data compared to the cumulative total hospitalizations. To view more data visit: data.coronavirus.alaska.gov.