Alaska Department of Health & Social Services Weekly Case Update
May 23-29, 2021
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Decreasing
Statewide transmission
Rt 0.76
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Intermediate
Statewide alert status
6.0
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Adequate
Hospital capacity
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Low
Test positivity
1.01%
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52%
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 average daily case rate continued decreasing. The current 14-day average case rate per 100,000 people is similar to levels last seen in July 2020.
- Since January 1, 2021, >98% of all COVID-19 hospitalizations in Alaska have been among people who were unvaccinated.
- 52% of Alaskans aged 12 years and older have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
- Alaska is currently the twenty-eighth most vaccinated state per capita for adults aged ≥18.
- As of May 12, all Alaskans aged ≥12 years are now eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. The COVID-19 vaccine is available at no cost.
- Starting June 1, anyone, including nonresident tourists, arriving at the Juneau, Fairbanks, Ketchikan, or Anchorage airports is able to get a dose of vaccine free of charge at the airport
Case Trends and Predictions
- 261 cases were reported in Alaskans last week. This is a 32% decrease from the week before.
- Case rates continued to increase in the Interior region while rates decreased from last week in the Southern Southeast region.
- Case rates decreased in 7 of the 11 behavioral health regions this week. Two regions saw minimal increases in case rates but still have <5 cases per 100,000 population.
- The estimated statewide daily growth rate as of June 1 is -4.3% and new cases are expected to halve every 16 days based on current modeling.
Regional Case Trends
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Behavioral Health Region
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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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Case
rates
May 16–May 22
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Case
rates
May 23–
May 29
|
|
Anchorage Municipality
|
13.0
|
11.2
|
8.2
|
5.4
|
3.8
|
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Fairbanks North Star Borough
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50.1
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33.5
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15.6
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8.3
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6.0
|
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Interior Region except Fairbanks
|
17.6
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15.0
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14.0
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19.4
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25.9
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Juneau City and Borough
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7.2
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8.8
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7.2
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3.8
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3.6
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Kenai Peninsula Borough
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12.4
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9.0
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7.8
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6.8
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3.8
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Matanuska-Susitna Region
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28.1
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22.4
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14.8
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8.7
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5.9
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Northern Southeast Region
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3.5
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4.9
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7.7
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5.6
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4.2
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Northwest Region
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7.6
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6.3
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5.0
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3.2
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4.0
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Southern Southeast Region
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19.9
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32.9
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54.2
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58.2
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36.9
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Southwest Region
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4.3
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3.3
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2.5
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3.2
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3.5
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Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta Region
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14.6
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7.2
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6.9
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9.6
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9.1
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Statewide
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19.4
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15.3
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11.2
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8.2
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6.0
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Vaccination Status
Reported vaccinations as of June 1, 2021.
Regional Vaccine Trends:
- For May 9-May 24, the Percent of Alaskans aged 16+ who have received one or more dose of vaccine
- For June 1, the percent of Alaskans aged 12+ who have received one or more dose of vaccine. This percentage may be lower than previous weeks since the number of persons eligible for the vaccine increased since those 12+ are now eligible.
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Borough/Census Area
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As of May 9
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As of May 16
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As of May 24
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As of June 1
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Aleutians East Borough
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61.1%
|
66.7%
|
77.7%
|
81.7%
|
|
Aleutians West Census Area
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57.4%
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58.1%
|
63.1%
|
63.7%
|
|
Anchorage Municipality
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55.5%
|
56.3%
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57.3%
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55.9%
|
|
Bethel Census Area
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69.9%
|
70.4%
|
71.4%
|
67.7%
|
|
Bristol Bay plus Lake and Peninsula
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76.1%
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77.4%
|
78.1%
|
76.5%
|
|
Denali Borough
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55.6%
|
56.0%
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58.8%
|
60.5%
|
|
Dillingham Census Area
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52.8%
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53.1%
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53.8%
|
56.2%
|
|
Fairbanks North Star Borough
|
42.6%
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44.0%
|
45.2%
|
44.4%
|
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Haines Borough
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66.2%
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66.6%
|
67.2%
|
66.3%
|
|
Juneau City and Borough
|
71.4%
|
72.6%
|
74.0%
|
72.8%
|
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Kenai Peninsula Borough
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43.6%
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44.2%
|
45.0%
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43.6%
|
|
Ketchikan Gateway Borough
|
58.5%
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59.4%
|
61.2%
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59.5%
|
|
Kodiak Island Borough
|
62.3%
|
62.7%
|
63.7%
|
61.8%
|
|
Kusilvak Census Area
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69.8%
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70.7%
|
72.2%
|
67.4%
|
|
Matanuska-Susitna Borough
|
35.7%
|
36.5%
|
37.3%
|
35.6%
|
|
Nome Census Area
|
73.6%
|
74.4%
|
76.1%
|
75.7%
|
|
North Slope Borough
|
34.4%
|
34.7%
|
35.3%
|
34.5%
|
|
Northwest Arctic Borough
|
57.8%
|
58.3%
|
59.4%
|
56.7%
|
|
Petersburg Borough
|
75.8%
|
76.2%
|
77.0%
|
62.1%
|
|
Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area
|
49.2%
|
50.1%
|
51.8%
|
59.3%
|
|
Sitka City and Borough
|
70.4%
|
71.1%
|
72.1%
|
70.0%
|
|
Skagway Municipality
|
78.7%
|
78.7%
|
79.2%
|
78.3%
|
|
Southeast Fairbanks Census Area
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30.8%
|
31.2%
|
31.6%
|
29.9%
|
|
Wrangell City and Borough
|
58.5%
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58.7%
|
58.9%
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57.9%
|
|
Yakutat plus Hoonah-Angoon
|
71.8%
|
72.6%
|
73.7%
|
73.3%
|
|
Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area
|
75.2%
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75.6%
|
76.1%
|
71.9%
|
|
Statewide
|
51.7%
|
52.9%
|
53.7%
|
52.0%
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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 23 through May 29, 2021, 261 cases were reported in Alaskans. This is a 32% decrease compared to the week prior, for a total of 67,458 cases.
- Cumulative hospitalizations increased to 1,561 with 3 reported as occurring this week. Hospitalization reports often lag and only 1,553 hospitalizations were reported at this time last week, so there are 8 hospitalizations newly reported this week including ones that began during previous weeks.
- No deaths were reported this week (362 total). It is common to take more than a week for a death to be reported, and deaths that occurred during May 23-May 29 may be reported in the future after death certificates are reviewed.
- 12 new nonresident cases were identified this week for a total of 2,812 cases.
Vaccine Breakthrough Cases
- No new vaccine breakthrough cases were reported during May 23-May 29.
- 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 24, 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 20,997 cases, 470 hospitalizations, and 98 deaths were reported. 98.1% 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
|
Cases Identified
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Change From Last Week
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First Identified in Alaska
|
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Alpha (B.1.1.7)
|
179
|
+38
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20 December 2020
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Gamma (P.1)
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22
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+6
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8 February 2021
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Beta (B.1.351)
|
5
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+1
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20 March 2021
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Epsilon (B.1.427)
|
7
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+2
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30 March 2021
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Epsilon (B.1.429)
|
118
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+4
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24 December 2020
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Variants of Interest
|
Cases Identified
|
Change From Last Week
|
First Identified in Alaska
|
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Iota (B.1.526)
|
16
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+4
|
4 February 2021
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Eta (B.1.525)
|
1
|
0
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16 March 2021
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Zeta (P.2)
|
4
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0
|
27 January 2021
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Health Care Capacity
- On June 1, 21 Alaskans with confirmed COVID-19 were hospitalized and 6 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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