Alaska Department of Health & Social Services Weekly Case Update
April 4-10, 2021

Brief Status Report

• Daily case rates decreased slightly from last week but statewide transmission increased for the third straight week. Anchorage, Fairbanks, and the Matanuska-Susitna regions saw a sustained rise in case rates, while Juneau, Kenai Peninsula, Northern Southeast, and Southern Southeast regions had higher rates than last week.
• Anyone 16 years or older who lives or works in Alaska is eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Alaska was the first state to offer vaccines to everyone over a certain age without prerequisites.
• Alaska is currently the twelfth most vaccinated state per capita. 52.3% of the State/IHS vaccine allocation so far has been administered.
• To schedule your vaccine appointment visit covidvax.alaska.gov or call 907-646-3322. The call line is staffed Monday-Friday from 9AM-6:30PM and 9AM-4:30PM on weekends. The call line can also be used to answer general questions about vaccine safety and to request appointments to receive a specific type of vaccine. Alaskans receiving health services through a Tribal Health Organization or the Department of Defense should contact those organizations directly to determine their eligibility.
• Nine new cases of a COVID variants of concern were detected in Alaska during the past week.

Case Trends and Predictions

• 1,118 cases were reported in Alaskans last week. This was a 3.6% decrease from the week before. Case rates decreased in the Anchorage and Matanuska-Susitna Regions, however case rates increased in the Fairbanks, Juneau, and Kenai regions. Overall, case rates were higher in seven of the State’s eleven regions this week compared with last week.
• The Anchorage case rate decreased to 22.8 from 25.7 last week. The Matanuska-Susitna case rate decreased to 46.9 from 49.2 last week.
• Fairbanks North Star Borough increased to 17.0 up from 16.2 the week before. This is the region’s highest case rate since late January. The Juneau case rate increased to 8.1 from 5.4 the week before. The Kenai Peninsula case rate increased to 15.5 from 11.8 last week. Case rates also increased in the Northern Southeast region, 8.1 from 7.4, Northwest Region at 3.7 from 3.2, Southern Southeast region at 6.1 from 5.4, and Southwest region at 10.1 from 5.1.
• Case rates decreased in the Interior region to 16.6 from 30.0 last week and in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta from to 20.1 from 25.9 last week.
• The estimated statewide daily growth rate as of April 12, 2021 is 1.12% and new cases are expected to double every 61.99 days based on current modeling.

Regional Case Trends

Vaccines Status Update

Reported vaccinations as of April 12, 2021.

• Anyone 16 years or older who lives or works in Alaska is eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
• On April 12, Alaska was the twelfth most vaccinated state per capita according to the CDC. The Alaska vaccine dashboard is available online for more up-to-date data.

New Cases, Hospitalizations, and Deaths

• During the week of April 4 through April 10, 2021 1,118 cases were reported in Alaskans last week. This is a 3.6% decrease from the week before for a total of 62,469 cumulative cases reported in Alaskans.
• Cumulative hospitalizations increased to 1,389 with 8 reported as occurring this week. Hospitalization reports often lag and only 1,370 hospitalizations were reported at this time last week, so there are 19 hospitalizations newly reported this week including ones that began during previous weeks.
• One new death of an Alaskan resident was reported this week (310 total), though the death occurred prior to this April 4. It is common to take more than a week for a death to be reported, and deaths that occurred during Apr 4-10 may be reported in future as death certificates are reviewed.
• 33 new nonresident cases were identified this week for a total of 2,633 cases.

Variant Tracking

• 9 new COVID variant cases were detected during the week of Apr 4-10
• Cumulative list of variants of concern identified in Alaska:

• Alaska’s Public Health Laboratories continue to monitor for variants of concern and are adjusting surveillance practices and public outputs to include the B.1.427 and B.1.429 cases, however they are not yet included in this table

Health Care Capacity

On April 12, 38 Alaskans with confirmed COVID-19 were hospitalized and 7 were reported to require a mechanical ventilator.

Total Confirmed COVID-19 Beds Occupied

Cases by Week Reported and Age Group

Cases by Week Reported and Race

Cases by Week Reported and Region

Additional informational resources:

• The State of Alaska COVID-19 vaccine status update page
• The State of Alaska COVID-19 information page provides more information about the virus and how individuals and businesses can protect themselves and others from transmission
• For the most up-to-date case information, see the Alaska Coronavirus Response Hub dashboard: updated Monday – Friday at data.coronavirus.alaska.gov (note: data may change as more information comes to light through contact tracing and other public health work).
• For DHSS media inquiries, please contact clinton.bennett@alaska.gov