Alaska Department of Health & Social Services Weekly Case Update May 9-15, 2021
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Decreasing
Statewide transmission
Rt 0.79
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HIGH
Statewide alert status
11.2
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Adequate
Hospital capacity
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Low
Test positivity
1.42%
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52.9%
Alaskan 16 years and older vaccinated
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Red- quickly increasing, Rt>1.2
Orange- increasing, Rt 1-1.2
Yellow-decreasing, Rt<1
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Red- 14-day average case rate per 100,000 people >10
Orange- 5-10
Yellow- <5
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Red- <3 weeks until beyond capacity
Orange- 3-6 weeks
Yellow- >6 weeks
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Red->5%
Orange- 2-5%
Yellow- <2%
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At least one shot Estimated AK population 16 and older of 569,699 from census.gov (American Community Survey 2019)
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Brief Status Report
- The statewide transmission rate and daily case rates decreased to their lowest levels since December 2020. Case rates rose sharply in the Southern Southeast region but decreased in most other regions.
- Nearly 53% of Alaskans 16 years and older have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Alaska is currently the twenty-fifth most vaccinated state per capita for adults 18+. 53% of the State/IHS vaccine allocation so far has been administered.
- 98% of all hospitalizations to date were people who are unvaccinated.
- As of May 12, all Alaskans age 12 years and older are now eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
Case Trends and Predictions
- 458 cases were reported in Alaskans last week. This was an 35.0% decrease from the week before.
- Case rates increased significantly in the Southern Southeast region. The Northern Southeast region experienced a small increase in case rates.
- Case rates decreased in the other 9 behavioral health regions this week.
- The estimated statewide daily growth rate as of May 17, 2021 is -3.52% and new cases are expected to halve every 19.7 days based on current modeling.
Regional Case Trends
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Behavioral Health Region
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Case rates Apr 4– Apr 10
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Case rates Apr 11– Apr 17
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Case rates Apr 18– Apr 24
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Case rates Apr 25– May 1
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Case rates May 2– May 8
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Case rates May 9–May 15
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Anchorage Municipality
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22.8
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21.0
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17.2
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13.0
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11.2
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8.2
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Fairbanks North Star Borough
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17.0
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18.3
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37.1
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50.1
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33.5
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15.6
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Interior Region except Fairbanks
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16.6
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17.1
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20.7
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17.6
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15.0
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14.0
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Juneau City and Borough
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8.1
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9.4
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7.4
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7.2
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8.8
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7.2
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Kenai Peninsula Borough
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15.5
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20.1
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19.3
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12.4
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9.0
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7.8
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Matanuska-Susitna Region
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46.9
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48.2
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40.6
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28.1
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22.4
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14.8
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Northern Southeast Region
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8.1
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11.6
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9.5
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3.5
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4.9
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7.7
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Northwest Region
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3.7
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4.5
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7.4
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7.6
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6.3
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5.0
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Southern Southeast Region
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6.1
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5.8
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11.9
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19.9
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32.9
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54.2
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Southwest Region
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10.1
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9.3
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5.1
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4.3
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3.3
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2.5
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Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta Region
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20.1
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11.6
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12.4
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14.6
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7.2
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6.9
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Statewide
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22.3
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22.0
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21.8
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19.4
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15.3
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11.2
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Vaccines Status
Reported vaccinations as of May 17, 2021.
Regional Vaccine Trends
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Borough/Census Area
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Vaccination Rate for Ages 16+
May 2
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Vaccination Rate for Ages 16+
May 9
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Vaccination Rate for Ages 16+
May 16
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1+ Dose
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Fully Vaccinated
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1+ Dose
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Fully Vaccinated
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1+ Dose
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Fully Vaccinated
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Aleutians East Borough
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58.9%
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35.9%
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61.1%
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36.9%
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66.7%
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43.1%
|
|
Aleutians West Census Area
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53.9%
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32.5%
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57.4%
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35.5%
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58.1%
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39.1%
|
|
Anchorage Municipality
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53.8%
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47.0%
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55.5%
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48.9%
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56.3%
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49.7%
|
|
Bethel Census Area
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69.3%
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60.9%
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69.9%
|
62.3%
|
70.4%
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63.3%
|
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Bristol Bay plus Lake and Peninsula
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65.7%
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53.8%
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76.1%
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57.4%
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77.4%
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59.4%
|
|
Chugach-Copper River Census Area
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50.2%
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45.2%
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56.9%
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51.6%
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57.3%
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52.5%
|
|
Denali Borough
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53.2%
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48.8%
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55.6%
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50.5%
|
56.0%
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51.1%
|
|
Dillingham Census Area
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50.6%
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42.0%
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52.8%
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43.9%
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53.1%
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44.3%
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|
Fairbanks North Star Borough
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41.4%
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36.6%
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42.6%
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38.3%
|
44.0%
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39.8%
|
|
Haines Borough
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66.3%
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63.1%
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66.2%
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63.1%
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66.6%
|
64.2%
|
|
Juneau City and Borough
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70.2%
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62.8%
|
71.4%
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66.6%
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72.6%
|
68.0%
|
|
Kenai Peninsula Borough
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42.1%
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38.1%
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43.6%
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39.9%
|
44.2%
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40.5%
|
|
Ketchikan Gateway Borough
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56.3%
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50.3%
|
58.5%
|
53.2%
|
59.4%
|
53.9%
|
|
Kodiak Island Borough
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60.7%
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54.5%
|
62.3%
|
56.0%
|
62.7%
|
56.9%
|
|
Kusilvak Census Area
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70.0%
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58.0%
|
69.8%
|
59.3%
|
70.7%
|
60.7%
|
|
Matanuska-Susitna Borough
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34.2%
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29.7%
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35.7%
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31.3%
|
36.5%
|
32.2%
|
|
Nome Census Area
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72.7%
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69.9%
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73.6%
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70.8%
|
74.4%
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71.3%
|
|
North Slope Borough
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34.8%
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32.0%
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34.4%
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31.8%
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34.7%
|
32.3%
|
|
Northwest Arctic Borough
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55.9%
|
51.0%
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57.8%
|
53.2%
|
58.3%
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54.1%
|
|
Petersburg Borough
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73.9%
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68.8%
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75.8%
|
70.9%
|
76.2%
|
71.4%
|
|
Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area
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47.6%
|
42.3%
|
49.2%
|
43.5%
|
50.1%
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43.6%
|
|
Sitka City and Borough
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69.3%
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63.6%
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70.4%
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64.8%
|
71.1%
|
65.0%
|
|
Skagway Municipality
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78.2%
|
74.2%
|
78.7%
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74.8%
|
78.6%
|
75.2%
|
|
Southeast Fairbanks Census Area
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29.8%
|
25.6%
|
30.8%
|
26.3%
|
31.2%
|
27.1%
|
|
Wrangell City and Borough
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57.0%
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53.0%
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58.5%
|
53.8%
|
58.7%
|
54.8%
|
|
Yakutat plus Hoonah-Angoon
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71.7%
|
65.2%
|
71.8%
|
65.6%
|
72.6%
|
66.6%
|
|
Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area
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74.6%
|
69.4%
|
75.2%
|
70.5%
|
75.6%
|
71.0%
|
|
Statewide
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50.6%
|
45.1%
|
51.7%
|
46.1%
|
52.9%
|
47.2%
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- 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.
New Cases, Hospitalizations, and Deaths
- During the week of May 9 through May 15, 2021, 458 cases were reported in Alaskans. This is a 35.0% decrease compared to the week prior for a total of 66,764.
- Cumulative hospitalizations increased to 1,542 with 8 reported as occurring this week. Hospitalization reports often lag and only 1,509 hospitalizations were reported at this time last week, so there are 33 hospitalizations newly reported this week including ones that began during previous weeks.
- No deaths were reported this week however fifteens death earlier weeks were reported (358 total). It is common to take more than a week for a death to be reported, and deaths that occurred during May 9-May 15 may be reported in the future after death certificates are reviewed.
- 19 new nonresident cases were identified this week for a total of 2,786 cases.
Vaccine Breakthrough Cases
- Vaccine breakthrough (VB) infections of COVID are those detected in a person who is more than 2 weeks beyond their second dose of a 2-dose series or the only dose of a 1-dose series. As of May 1, 2021, CDC changed reporting of VB cases to be only those associated with hospitalization or death.
- From January 1–May 10, 2021, Alaska has recorded one death and nine hospitalizations resulting from a VB infection. These counts are provisional and subject to change as more data are compiled. In that same time frame, a total of 20,157 cases, 446 hospitalizations, and 93 deaths were reported. 98% of all hospitalizations to date were people who are unvaccinated.
- Specimens from VB infections (regardless of severity) are prioritized for sequencing and described in the weekly Alaska Genomics Report
Variant Tracking
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Variants of Concern
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Cases Identified
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Change From Last Week
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First Identified in Alaska
|
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B.1.1.7
|
89
|
+27
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20 December 2020
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|
P.1
|
13
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+2
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8 February 2021
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B.1.351
|
3
|
0
|
20 March 2021
|
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B.1.427
|
3
|
+2
|
30 March 2021
|
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B.1.429
|
110
|
+4
|
24 December 2020
|
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Variants of Interest
|
Cases Identified
|
Change From Last Week
|
First Identified in Alaska
|
|
B.1.526
|
7
|
+2
|
4 February 2021
|
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B.1.525
|
1
|
0
|
16 March 2021
|
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P.2
|
4
|
0
|
27 January 2021
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Health Care Capacity
- On May 17, 21 Alaskans with confirmed COVID-19 were hospitalized and 3 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:
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