COVID-19 Alaska Weekly Case Update: April 18-24, 2021

COVID-19 Alaska Weekly Update

Alaska Department of Health & Social Services Weekly Case Update
April 18-24, 2021

Decreasing

Statewide transmission
Rt 0.98

HIGH

Statewide alert status
21.8

Adequate

Hospital capacity

Moderate

Test positivity
2.79%

49.2%
Alaskan 16 years and older vaccinated

Red- quickly increasing, Rt>1.2

Orange- increasing, Rt 1-1.2

Yellow-decreasing, Rt<1

Red- 14-day average case rate per 100,000 people >10

Orange- 5-10

Yellow- <5

Red- <3 weeks until beyond capacity

Orange- 3-6 weeks

Yellow- >6 weeks

Red->5%

Orange- 2-5%

Yellow- <2%

At least one shot Estimated AK population 16 and older of 569,699 from census.gov (American Community Survey 2019)

Brief Status Report

  • The statewide transmission rate and daily case rates decreased slightly from last week. Case rates more than doubled in Fairbanks but decreased in Anchorage, Matanuska-Susitna, and Juneau regions. 
  • Alaska is currently the twelfth most vaccinated state per capita for adults 18+. 49% of the State/IHS vaccine allocation so far has been administered.

COVID-19 Alaska Weekly Update

Case Trends and Predictions

  • 1,090 cases were reported in Alaskans last week. This was a 3.5% decrease from the week before. Case rates more than doubled in Fairbanks but decreased in Anchorage, the Matanuska-Susitna region, Juneau, the Northern Southeast, and Southwest regions.
  • Case rates increased in the Interior region, Northwest, Southern Southeast, and YK Delta regions compared with last week.
  • The estimated statewide daily growth rate as of April 25, 2021 is -0.42% and new cases are expected to halve every 164.2 days based on current modeling.

COVID-19 Alaska Weekly Update

Regional Case Trends

Behavioral Health Region

Case rates Mar 14– Mar 20

Case rates Mar 21– Mar 27

Case rates Mar 28– Apr 3

Case rates Apr 4– Apr 10

Case rates Apr 11– Apr 17

Case rates Apr 18– Apr 24

Anchorage Municipality

16.6

22.0

25.7

22.8

21.0

17.2

Fairbanks North Star Borough

11.7

13.7

16.2

17.0

18.3

37.1

Interior Region except Fairbanks

47.1

40.9

30.0

16.6

17.1

20.7

Juneau City and Borough

4.3

3.8

5.4

8.1

9.4

7.4

Kenai Peninsula Borough

6.2

6.7

11.8

15.5

20.1

19.3

Matanuska-Susitna Region

36.7

40.9

49.2

46.9

48.2

40.6

Northern Southeast Region

6.0

6.3

7.4

8.1

11.6

9.5

Northwest Region

5.3

4.5

3.2

3.7

4.5

7.4

Southern Southeast Region

4.0

4.7

5.4

6.1

5.8

11.9

Southwest Region

5.3

5.6

5.1

10.1

9.3

5.1

Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta Region

34.1

26.4

25.9

20.1

11.6

12.4

Statewide

17.3

20.1

23.5

22.3

22.0

21.8

Vaccines Status Update

COVID-19 Alaska Weekly Update
Reported vaccinations as of April 25, 2021.

Regional Vaccine Trends

Borough/Census Area

Vaccination Rate for Ages 16+
April 25

1+ Dose

Fully Vaccinated

Aleutians East Borough

56.7%

34%

Aleutians West Census Area

53.1%

30.7%

Anchorage Municipality

52.8%

45.3%

Bethel Census Area

68.7%

60.1%

Bristol Bay plus Lake and Peninsula

63.7%

51.8%

Chugach-Copper River Census Area

49.6%

44.5%

Denali Borough

53.0%

48.0%

Dillingham Census Area

50.1%

41.3%

Fairbanks North Star Borough

40.1%

33.9%

Haines Borough

66.3%

62.0%

Juneau City and Borough

69.4%

58.3%

Kenai Peninsula Borough

41.4%

36.9%

Ketchikan Gateway Borough

55.5%

48.4%

Kodiak Island Borough

59.8%

52.7%

Kusilvak Census Area

69.4%

56.7%

Matanuska-Susitna Borough

33.6%

28.8%

Nome Census Area

72.1%

69.3%

North Slope Borough

34.2%

31.0%

Northwest Arctic Borough

55.7%

50.5%

Petersburg Borough

72.9%

68.4%

Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area

46.3%

41.6%

Sitka City and Borough

69.0%

63.1%

Skagway Municipality

78.2%

74.2%

Southeast Fairbanks Census Area

28.4%

23.9%

Wrangell City and Borough

56.6%

52.2%

Yakutat plus Hoonah-Angoon

71.2%

64.5%

Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area

69.6%

62.6%

Statewide

49.2%

42.4%

  • 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.

New Cases, Hospitalizations, and Deaths

  • During the week of April 18 through April 24, 2021, 1,090 cases were reported in Alaskans last week. This is a 3.5% decrease compared to the week prior for a total of 64,703
  • Cumulative hospitalizations increased to 1,463 with 10 reported as occurring this week. Hospitalization reports often lag and only 1,426 hospitalizations were reported at this time last week, so there are 37 hospitalizations newly reported this week including ones that began during previous weeks.
  • 12 deaths were reported this week (341 total), though all of these deaths occurred prior to April 24. It is common to take more than a week for a death to be reported, and deaths that occurred during Apr 18-24 may be reported in the future after death certificates are reviewed.
  • 28 new nonresident cases were identified this week for a total of 2,723 cases.

COVID-19 Alaska Weekly Update

Variant Tracking

Variants of Concern

Cases Identified

Change from last week

First Identified in Alaska

B.1.1.7

20

+5

20 December 2020

P.1

8

+2

8 February 2021

B.1.351

1

0

20 March 2021

B.1.427

1

0

30 March 2021

B.1.429

83

+9

24 December 2020

Health Care Capacity

  • On April 25, 37 Alaskans with confirmed COVID-19 were hospitalized and 5 were reported to require a mechanical ventilator.

Total Confirmed COVID-19 Beds Occupied

COVID-19 Alaska Weekly Update

Cases by Week Reported and Age Group

COVID-19 Alaska Weekly Update

Cases by Week Reported and Race

COVID-19 Alaska Weekly Update

Cases by Week Reported and Region

COVID-19 Alaska Weekly Update

Additional informational resources: