Alaska COVID-19 Case Count Summary: Dec. 15, 2020

CASE COUNT SUMMARY, Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020

DHSS today announced three new Alaska resident deaths and 284 new people identified with COVID-19 in Alaska. 277 were residents in:  Anchorage (125), Kodiak (24), Wasilla (24), Fairbanks (17), Utqiaġvik (10), Juneau (9), Kusilvak Census Area (9), North Pole (9), Palmer (8), Sitka (5), Chugiak (4), Kenai (4), Bethel (2), Bethel Census Area (2), Big Lake (2), Delta Junction (2), Eagle River (2), Homer (2), North Slope Borough (2), Valdez- Cordova Census Area (2), and one each in Bristol Bay/ Lake  & Peninsula, Dillingham, Douglas, Fairbanks North Star Borough, Hooper Bay, Ketchikan, Nikiski, Nome Census Area, Seward, Skagway, Soldotna, Sterling, and Tok.

Seven new nonresident cases were identified yesterday:

• Anchorage: five in seafood industry
• Two with both locations and purposes under investigation

One resident case was added to the dashboard through data verification procedures. This brings the total number of Alaska resident cases to 40,438 and the total number of nonresident cases to 1,420.

ALERT LEVELS – The current statewide alert level, based on the average daily case rate over 14 days per 100,000, is high at 82.8 cases per 100,000. All regions in Alaska are in high alert status with widespread community transmission occurring.

High (>10 cases/100,000)

• YK-Delta Region: 164.79 cases per 100,000
• Southwest Region: 117.17 cases per 100,000
• Matanuska-Susitna Region: 113.88 cases per 100,000
• Anchorage Municipality: 87.69 cases per 100,000
• Kenai Peninsula Borough: 75.51 cases per 100,000
• Northwest Region: 68.22 cases per 100,000
• Fairbanks North Star Borough: 65.47 cases per 100,000
• Other Interior Region: 46.91 cases per 100,000
• Juneau City and Borough: 23.67 cases per 100,000
• Other Southeast Region - Northern: 19.21 cases per 100,000
• Other Southeast Region - Southern: 13.98 cases per 100,000

CASES: SEX & AGES – Of the 277 Alaska residents, 166 are male and 105 are female and six are unknown. 19 are under the age of 10; 22 are aged 10-19; 50 are aged 20-29; 70 are aged 30-39; 32 are aged 40-49; 37 are aged 50-59; 29 are aged 60-69; 15 are aged 70-79 and three are aged 80 or older.

CASES: HOSPITALIZATIONS & DEATHS – There have been a total of 891 hospitalizations and 178 deaths, with  nineteen new hospitalizations three new deaths reported yesterday.  Our thoughts are with the families and loved ones of the individuals who died. 

Three deaths were recent:

• A male Anchorage resident in his 70s
• A male Anchorage resident in his 80s
• A male Anchorage resident in his 90s

There are currently 133 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 who are hospitalized and seven additional patients who are considered persons under investigation (PUI) for a total of 140 current COVID-related hospitalizations. Thirteen of these patients are on ventilators. The percentage of patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19 is 14.6%.

TESTING – A total of 1,157,867 tests have been conducted, with 32,424  tests conducted in the previous seven days. The average percentage of daily positive tests for the previous seven days is 5.61%. 

ALASKA PIONEER HOMES UPDATE
Anchorage Pioneer Home
Since the last update on Dec. 8, two residents and one staff member have tested positive for COVID-19 at the Anchorage Pioneer Home. There are 14 active resident cases and three staff cases. Four residents received monoclonal antibody infusions at the home through an arrangement with the outpatient infusion center at the Alaska Airlines Center.

This brings the total number of cases at the home since Nov. 3 to 30 residents and 16 staff associated with this outbreak. There are two current hospitalizations and no additional deaths; the total number of deaths remains at one.

All Pioneer Homes
Arrangements are being made to begin COVID-19 vaccinations for staff and residents at all six of the Pioneer Homes. Vaccines will be given over the next several weeks, as supplies allow, to residents and staff who have provided the required informed consent.

TAKE ACTION – Vaccines have begun arriving in Alaska but we all still need to maintain our COVID-19 protective measures to keep ourselves and others safe and healthy: coronavirus.dhss.alaska.gov

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, there have been delays in getting reports 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 Dec. 14 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. Current hospitalizations are reported for all facilities, not just general acute care and critical access facilities, as is the default on the dashboard. 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.