Alaska COVID-19 Case Count Summary: Nov. 18, 2020

CASE COUNT SUMMARY, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2020

DHSS today announced 551 new people identified with COVID-19 in Alaska. 549 are residents in: Anchorage (251), Bethel (35), Bethel Census Area (21), Wasilla (27), Kenai (26), Eagle River (25), Fairbanks (25), Soldotna (21), Kodiak (11), North Pole (11), Chugiak (10), Kusilvak Census Area (9), Palmer (9), Sterling (9), Juneau (7), Delta Junction (6), Utqiaġvik (6), Homer (5), Cordova (4), Seward (3), Yakutat plus Hoonah-Angoon (3), Big Lake (2), Fairbanks North Star Borough (2), Kenai Peninsula Borough North (2), Kotzebue (2), Matanuska-Susitna Borough (2), Southeast Fairbanks Census Area (2), Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area (2), and one each in Bristol Bay/Lake & Peninsula Borough, Chevak, Girdwood, Ketchikan, Nikiski, North Slope Borough, Northwest Arctic Borough, Sitka, Sutton-Alpine, Tok, and Willow.

Two new nonresident cases were identified yesterday in:

• Anchorage: one with purpose under investigation
• One with location and purpose under investigation

Four resident cases were subtracted from the dashboard through data verification procedures. This brings the total number of Alaska resident cases to 24,419 and the total number of nonresident cases to 1,169.

ALERT LEVELS – The 14-day average case rates used to determine each region’s alert level have been artificially low since the Nov. 17 implementation of using the specimen collection date for cases where onset date was missing. The data team is working to recode the calculation using the report date which will eliminate the artificial drop and provide consistency to the alert levels. Currently, ALL regions are still in high alert status with widespread community transmission occurring.

MODELING APP – The modeling application, which provides the Projected Epidemiological Curve, Reproductive Number and Average Daily Rate, is also temporarily unavailable while it’s being revised to take into account the changes to onset date for cases and removal of active and recovered cases.

CASES: SEX & AGES – Of the 549 Alaska residents, 271 are male, 273 are female and five are unknown. 46 are under the age of 10; 61 are aged 10-19; 106 are aged 20-29; 107 are aged 30-39; 75 are aged 40-49; 77 are aged 50-59; 49 are aged 60-69; 19 are aged 70-79, 8 are aged 80 or older, and one is unknown.

CASES: HOSPITALIZATIONS & DEATHS – There have been a total of 573 hospitalizations and 99 deaths, with 11 new hospitalizations.  

There are currently 139 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 who are hospitalized and 18 additional patients who are considered persons under investigation (PUI) for a total of 157 current COVID-related hospitalizations. Fifteen of these patients are on ventilators. The percentage of patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19 is 13.6%.

TESTING – A total of 885,558 tests have been conducted, with 22,676 tests conducted in the previous seven days. The average percentage of daily positive tests for the previous seven days is 8.26%. 

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 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 seem likely to remain at this level or higher for the near future.

This report reflects data from 12 a.m. until 11:59 p.m. on Nov. 17 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. Total number of hospital beds available fluctuate daily as the number of available hospital staff changes. All data reported in real-time, on a daily basis, should be considered preliminary and subject to change. To view more data visit: data.coronavirus.alaska.gov.