Alaska COVID-19 Data Summary: Dec. 22, 2021

COVID-19 DATA SUMMARY – Dec. 22, 2021

Reporting data for Dec. 20-21, 2021

OVERVIEW – 235 new cases | 30 deaths | 56 hospitalizations | Statewide alert level: high | 60.2% of Alaskans 5+ vaccinated

Note: Another case of the Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus has been detected in an Anchorage resident. This is the second confirmed Omicron case so far in Alaska, but based on rising Omicron cases nationally and globally, the State of Alaska expects to detect more Omicron cases soon. The case was identified through genomic sequencing performed by an out-of-state laboratory from a person who recently tested positive in Anchorage following domestic travel out of state in December. The person, when contacted by a contract tracer, was already isolating at home with mild illness and had outreached close contacts.

Protective measures against the variant remain the same as for the other COVID virus variants. The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) encourages Alaskans to get vaccinated against COVID-19 if they haven’t already done so and to get boosted if they’re eligible. Layering on other protective measures, including masking, handwashing, physical distancing, and testing can also help to reduce transmission of the COVID-19 virus, including Omicron. Using a self-test before gatherings is also advised. To check variant data for Alaska, please check the Alaska Coronavirus Variants Dashboard at akvariants.github.io.

Note: Due to the Christmas Eve holiday on Friday, the next data summary will be released on Monday, Dec. 27, 2021.

TAKE ACTION – Choosing to get vaccinated is the single most important action you can take to protect yourself and your community and to keep our economy strong. Learn more about the vaccines at covidvax.alaska.gov and the CDC’s recommendations for fully vaccinated people at cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/fully-vaccinated.html. Vaccine is now available for ages 5 and older. The rates listed below reflect the percentage of Alaskans age 5 and older reported as vaccinated.  

VACCINATIONS – 67.4% of Alaskans age 5 and older have received at least their first vaccine dose.

60.2% of Alaskans 5 and older have been fully vaccinated. The higher the vaccination rate, the more protected community members are from COVID-19. See below for percentages of all fully vaccinated Alaskans ages 5 and older by region:

• Juneau Region: 77.3%
• YK-Delta Region: 73.2%
• Other Southeast Region - Northern: 72.1%
• Southwest Region: 67.3%
• Other Southeast Region - Southern: 64.4%
• Anchorage Region: 61.6%
• Northwest Region: 58.8%
• Other Interior Region: 57.2%
• Fairbanks North Star Borough: 49.3%
• Kenai Peninsula Region: 47.6%
• Matanuska-Susitna Region: 40.3%

CASES – DHSS today announced 30 deaths of Alaska residents, one nonresident death and 235 new people identified with COVID-19 in Alaska.  

226 were residents of: Anchorage (90), Ketchikan (19), Fairbanks (18), Greater Wasilla Area (13), Juneau (9), Greater Palmer Area (6), Kenai (6), Kenai Peninsula Borough-North (5), Sitka (5), Anchor Point (4), Homer (4), Nome Census Area (4), Bethel (3), Bethel Census Area (3), Sterling (3), Eagle River (2), Girdwood (2), Hooper Bay (2), Kotzebue (2), Kusilvak Census Area (2), Nome (2), North Pole (2), Prince Of Wales-Hyder Census Area (2), Seward (2), Soldotna (2), and one each in Bristol Bay plus Lake and Peninsula, Chevak, Chugiak, Copper River Census Area, Delta Junction, Dillingham Census Area, Houston/Big Lake Area, Kodiak, Nikiski, North Slope Borough, Northwest Arctic Borough, Utqiagvik, Willow, and Yakutat plus Hoonah-Angoon.

9 nonresident cases were identified in:

• Anchorage: 4 with purpose under investigation
• Northwest Arctic Borough: 2 with purpose mining industry
• Fairbanks: 1 with purpose under investigation
• Kenai: 1 with purpose under investigation
• Juneau: 1 with purpose under investigation

Two resident cases and one nonresident case were subtracted from the state's overall total due to data verification procedures, bringing the total number of Alaska resident cases to 149,815 and the total number of nonresident cases to 5,479.

HOSPITALIZATIONS & DEATHS – There have been a total of 3,248 resident hospitalizations and 945 resident deaths. Forty-four new resident hospitalizations and 30 Alaska resident deaths were reported. Please see this webpage for more information on the process used to report COVID-19 deaths: dhss.alaska.gov/dph/epi/id/pages/covid-19/deathcounts.aspx.

The Alaska residents who died were:

• Male Anchorage resident in his 60s
• Female Anchorage resident in her 70s
• Female Anchorage resident in her 70s
• Male Anchorage resident age 80+
• Male Anchorage resident age 80+
• Female Bethel resident in her 60s
• Female Bethel Census Area resident in her 60s
• Female Bethel Census Area resident in her 60s
• Female Bethel Census Area resident age 80+
• Male Copper River Census Area resident in his 70s
• Male Fairbanks resident in his 50s
• Female Houston resident in her 60s
• Male Ketchikan resident in his 60s
• Female Mat-Su Borough resident in her 70s
• Female North Pole resident in her 30s
• Female North Pole resident in her 70s
• Male Palmer resident in his 30s
• Male Palmer resident in his 70s
• Female Palmer resident age 80+
• Female Soldotna resident in her 60s
• Female Southeast Fairbanks Census Area resident in her 60s
• Female Wasilla resident in her 20s
• Female Wasilla resident in her 50s
• Female Wasilla resident in her 60s
• Female Wasilla resident in her 60s
• Male Wasilla resident in his 60s
• Male Wasilla resident in his 60s
• Female Wasilla resident in her 70s
• Female Wasilla resident in her 70s
• Male Willow resident in his 50s
  

Our thoughts are with their family and loved ones.

NOTE: Today’s data summary includes a large batch of COVID-related deaths. Four deaths were recent, while the rest were identified through death certificate review from September to December. Please know that our data team and Health Analytics and Vital Records Section (HAVRS) are diligently examining death certificate reviews to identify COVID-related deaths as we come back up to speed following the cyberattack. Please see this webpage for more information on the process used to report COVID-19 deaths: dhss.alaska.gov/dph/epi/id/pages/covid-19/deathcounts.aspx

There are currently 56 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 who are hospitalized and two additional patients who are considered persons under investigation (PUI) for a total of 58 current COVID-related hospitalizations. Eleven of these patients are on ventilators. The percentage of patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19 is 4.8%.

TESTING – A total of 3,655,507 tests have been conducted, with 23,785 tests conducted in the previous seven days. The average percentage of daily positive tests for the previous seven days is 3.58%.

ALERT LEVELS – The current statewide alert level – based on the reported number of cases per 100,000 people over the past 7 days – is high (red) at 143.4. For boroughs and census areas: 20 areas are at the high alert level (>100 cases), 4 areas are at the substantial alert level (50-99.99), 1 area is at the moderate alert level (10-49.99) and 3 areas are at the low alert level (0-9.99).

Find alert levels for individual boroughs and census areas using the alert levels map on the cases dashboard at www.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/ddd52524412b41b690b82b5618735f9e.

Notes: 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. When there is a high number of reports being received, this may cause delays in getting reports entered and counted. Personnel continue to focus on the effort to process and count reports and minimize the delay from receipt to posting on the 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. Total number of hospital beds available fluctuate daily as the number of available hospital staff changes. Alert levels are provided to show trends and patterns over time as there can be substantial day-to-day variation in reporting of cases to DHSS. Alert levels show how widespread the virus is in a community relative to its population size and are a good tool to determine weekly trends for specific geographic areas. 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.