Alaska COVID-19 Case Count Summary: Dec. 22, 2020

CASE COUNT SUMMARY, Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2020

DHSS today announced 10 deaths and 429 new people identified with COVID-19 in Alaska. 426 were residents in: Anchorage (179), Wasilla (83), Kodiak (27), Palmer (20), Juneau (18), Eagle River (16), Fairbanks (16), Bethel (13), Chugiak (9), Soldotna (8), Bethel Census Area (7), Homer (7), Seward (4), Kenai (3), Kusilvak Census Area (2), Utqiaġvik (2), and one each in Anchor Point, Bristol Bay/Lake & Peninsula, Dillingham Census Area, Kotzebue, Mat-Su Borough, North Pole, North Slope Borough, Tok, Valdez, Valdez-Cordova Census Area Chugach, Willow and Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area.

Three new nonresident cases were identified yesterday in Anchorage, all with purposes still under investigation.

Twelve resident cases were added to and one nonresident case was subtracted from dashboard through data verification procedures. The total number of Alaska resident cases is 43,001 and the total number of nonresident cases to 1,462.

ALERT LEVELS – The current statewide alert level, based on the average daily case rate over 14 days per 100,000, is high at 60.07 cases per 100,000. All regions in Alaska except one are in high alert status with widespread community transmission occurring.

High (>10 cases/100,000)

• YK-Delta Region: 134.11 cases per 100,000
• Southwest Region: 79.35 cases per 100,000
• Anchorage Municipality: 68.14 cases per 100,000
• Matanuska-Susitna Region: 58.85 cases per 100,000
• Kenai Peninsula Borough: 57.15 cases per 100,000
• Northwest Region: 55.46 cases per 100,000
• Fairbanks North Star Borough: 55.19 cases per 100,000
• Other Interior Region: 31.68 cases per 100,000
• Juneau City and Borough: 18.98 cases per 100,000
• Other Southeast Region - Northern: 13.62 cases per 100,000

Intermediate (> 4.8 – 10 cases/100,000)

• Other Southeast Region - Southern: 7.88 cases per 100,000

CASES: SEX & AGES – Of the 426 Alaska residents, 227 are male and 199 are female. 27 are under the age of 10; 40 are aged 10-19; 93 are aged 20-29; 87 are aged 30-39; 53 are aged 40-49; 53 are aged 50-59; 50 are aged 60-69; 19 are aged 70-79 and four are aged 80 or older.

CASES: HOSPITALIZATIONS & DEATHS – There have been a total of 930 hospitalizations and 193 deaths, with 11 new hospitalizations and 10 new deaths reported yesterday. Our thoughts are with the families and loved ones of the individuals who died. 

Four deaths were recent:

• A female Anchorage resident in her 80s
• A female Anchorage resident in her 70s
• A male Anchorage resident in his 70s
• A male Anchorage resident in his 60s

Six deaths were from death certificate reviews over the past several months: 

• A male Mat-Su Borough resident in his 80s
• A female Anchorage resident in her 80s
• A male Anchorage resident in his 70s
• A male Anchorage resident in his 70s
• A female Anchorage resident in her 60s
• A male Big Lake resident in his 40s

There are currently 115 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 who are hospitalized and six additional patients who are considered persons under investigation (PUI) for a total of 121 current COVID-related hospitalizations. Thirteen of these patients are on ventilators. The percentage of patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19 is 11.8%.

TESTING – A total of 1,215,282 tests have been conducted, with 29,262 tests conducted in the previous seven days. The average percentage of daily positive tests for the previous seven days is 4.66%. 

ALASKA PIONEER HOMES UPDATE

Anchorage Pioneer Home – Since the last update on Dec. 15, no new residents and one new staff tested positive for COVID-19. There is one active resident case and one active staff case. The total number of cases at the home since Nov. 3 is 30 residents and 17 staff.

There have been two new deaths, bringing the total number of deaths associated with this outbreak to three; there are no current hospitalizations. We hold the families and loved ones of the individuals who died in our thoughts and hearts. 

Since vaccinations began on Dec. 18 at the home, 112 elders and 60 staff have received vaccinations with no adverse reactions reported. Vaccinations will continue at the home as consent is provided and supplies become available.

All Pioneer Homes – Vaccinations of residents and staff at all six homes are beginning this month as each home receives their vaccine supplies through the Pioneer Homes’ pharmacy and partnerships with Carrs/Safeway. The Alaska Veterans and Pioneers Home has vaccinated 19 staff and the Ketchikan Pioneer Home has administered vaccines to 20 staff as of today.

TAKE ACTION – Vaccines are 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. 21 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.