DHSS Press Release: Twenty-six new cases of COVID-19 in Alaska; 14 resident, 12 nonresident

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Twenty-six new cases of COVID-19 in Alaska; 14 resident, 12 nonresident

June 19, 2020 ANCHORAGE — The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) today announced 26 new cases of COVID-19 in Alaska. Fourteen are residents of nine communities: Anchorage (6), Bethel Census Area (1), Big Lake (1), Fairbanks (1), Haines (1), Homer (1), North Pole (1), North Slope Borough (1) and Palmer (1). This brings the total number of Alaska resident cases to 722.

Twelve new nonresident cases were also identified in:

• Combined Bristol Bay and Lake & Peninsula boroughs (7): seven in the seafood industry
• Municipality of Anchorage (2): one each in the seafood industry and a visitor
• Valdez-Cordova Census Area (1): one in the seafood industry
• Wrangell-Petersburg Census Area (1): one in the seafood industry
• Location still under investigation (1): one in the seafood industry

This brings the total number of nonresident cases to 101. Since April 10, 69 total nonresident cases have been identified as associated with the seafood industry. The largest number of cases have been in the Municipality of Anchorage (24), Valdez-Cordova Census Area (14) and the combined Bristol Bay and Lake & Peninsula boroughs (12). However, cases have been reported in regions across the state.

Most of the seafood industry cases have been found through testing that was required as a part of their employer's protection plan and the individuals were in quarantine at the time they were identified. A list of the nonresident cases can be found through the "COVID Cases Out of State" table on the data dashboard.

Last week, after an employee at the Fairbanks Pioneer Home tested positive for COVID-19, testing of all residents and staff was conducted at the home. Those tests have all been completed and all results came back negative. Testing of residents and staff members at the other Pioneer Homes is also underway. In addition to the standard practice of testing any staff member or resident who has any symptoms, the feasibility of testing staff every two weeks is being evaluated.

Of the new Alaska resident cases, nine are male and five are female. Three are aged 20-29; three are aged 30-39; four are aged 40-49; three are aged 60-69 and one is 80 or older. There have been a total of 60 hospitalizations with four new hospitalizations recorded yesterday. Two of these hospitalizations were entered into the system yesterday upon receipt of information from Providence Transitional Care Center but didn’t occur in the past 24 hours. No new deaths were reported yesterday so the total number of deaths remains at 12. Recovered cases now total 457, with eight new recovered cases recorded yesterday. A total of 83,361 tests have been conducted. The average percentage of daily positive tests for the previous three days is 0.78%.

This report reflects data from 12:00 a.m. until 11:59 p.m. on June 18 that posted at noon today on the Alaska Coronavirus Response Hub. Please note that upon further investigation and interviews, data points for cases – such as the date and residence – may on occasion change on the data dashboard after they are announced.

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Questions about COVID-19?

• For general questions and assistance, please call 2-1-1.
• For the general public, questions regarding DHSS COVID response, including mandates and alerts, can be sent to covidquestions@alaska.gov.
• Data questions can be sent to data.coronavirus@alaska.gov
• For DHSS media inquiries, please contact clinton.bennett@alaska.gov.

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