Alaska COVID-19 Data Summary: Jan. 5, 2022

COVID-19 DATA SUMMARY – Jan. 5, 2022

Reporting data for Jan.3 - Jan. 4, 2022

OVERVIEW – 1,597 new cases | 0 deaths | 55 hospitalizations | Statewide alert level: high | 57.6% of Alaskans 5+ vaccinated

Note: Protective measures against the Omicron variant remain the same as for the other COVID variants. Layering protective measures, including masking, handwashing, physical distancing, and testing help to reduce transmission of the COVID-19 virus. Using a self-test before and after travel and large gatherings is advised. The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) encourages Alaskans to talk with a healthcare provider or call 646-3322 about getting the COVID-19 vaccine to reduce the severity of illness if they haven’t already done so and to get boosted if eligible.

To check variant data for Alaska, please check the Alaska Coronavirus Variants Dashboard at akvariants.github.io.

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 – 63% of Alaskans age 5 and older have received at least their first vaccine dose.

57.6% 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: 77.8%
• YK-Delta Region: 73.6%
• Other Southeast Region - Northern: 72.5%
• Southwest Region: 67.8%
• Other Southeast Region - Southern: 65.1%
• Anchorage Region: 62.2%
• Northwest Region: 59.4%
• Other Interior Region: 57.4%
• Fairbanks North Star Borough: 49.6%
• Kenai Peninsula Region: 47.9%
• Matanuska-Susitna Region: 40.6%

CASES – DHSS today announced no deaths of Alaska residents and 1,597 new people identified with COVID-19 in Alaska.  

1,531 were residents of:  Anchorage (658), Fairbanks (170), Juneau (124), Greater Wasilla Area (56), Sitka (44), Eagle River (42), Kusilvak Census Area (40 in 6 communities), North Pole (34), Nome Census Area (27 in 6 communities), Ketchikan (23), Kodiak (19), Kenai (17), Homer (15), Unalaska (14), Bethel (13), Girdwood (13), Soldotna (13), Chugiak (11), Dillingham (11), Greater Palmer Area (11), Nome (11), Bethel Census Area (10 in 6 communities), Fairbanks North Star Borough (10), Kotzebue (9), Prince Of Wales-Hyder Census Area (9 in 3 communities), Northwest Arctic Borough (8 in 5 communities), Wrangell (8), Utqiaġvik (7), Haines (6), Hooper Bay (6), North Slope Borough (6 in 2 communities), Aleutians East Borough (5), Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area (5 in 4 communities), Bristol Bay/Lake and Peninsula (4 in 2 communities), Mat-Su Borough (4), Metlakatla (4), Petersburg (4), Seward (4), Anchor Point (3), Copper River Census Area (3 in 3 communities), Craig (3), Tok (3), Valdez (3), Yakutat plus Hoonah-Angoon (3 in 3 communities), Cordova (2), Delta Junction (2), Houston/Big Lake Area (2), Kodiak Island Borough (2 in 2 communities), Nikiski (2), Southeast Fairbanks Census Area (2), Willow (2),  and one each in Aleutians West Census Area, Dillingham Census Area, Ester, Kenai Peninsula Borough-South, Ketchikan Gateway Borough, and Sutton-Alpine. 

84 nonresident cases were identified in:

• Anchorage: 1 with purpose seafood, 21 with purpose under investigation
• Fairbanks: 13 with purpose under investigation
• Juneau: 6 with purpose under investigation
• Prudhoe Bay: 5 with purpose oil, 1 with purpose under investigation
• Tok: 6 with purpose under investigation
• Unalaska: 3 with purpose seafood, 3 with purpose under investigation
• Wasilla: 3 with purpose under investigation
• Kenai: 2 with purpose under investigation
• Nome: 2 with purpose under investigation
• Hoonah-Angoon/ Yakutat combined: 1 with purpose under investigation
• Location under investigation: 17 with purpose under investigation

Eleven resident cases were subtracted and three nonresident cases were added to the state's overall total due to data verification procedures, bringing the total number of Alaska resident cases to 155,871 and the total number of nonresident cases to 5,807.

HOSPITALIZATIONS & DEATHS – There have been a total of 3,281 resident hospitalizations and 947 resident deaths. Twelve new resident hospitalizations, no new Alaska resident deaths, and no new nonresident 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.

There are currently 56 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 who are hospitalized and five additional patients who are considered persons under investigation (PUI) for a total of 61 current COVID-related hospitalizations. Eleven of these patients are on ventilators. The percentage of patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19 is 4.7%.

TESTING – A total of 3,721,263 tests have been conducted, with 25,418 tests conducted in the previous seven days. The average percentage of daily positive tests for the previous seven days is 14.67%.

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 583.3. For boroughs and census areas: 28 areas are at the high alert level (>100 cases), no areas are at the substantial alert level (50-99.99), no areas are at the moderate alert level (10-49.99) and no 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.