Alaska reports 284 COVID-19 cases, no deaths over 2 days as hospitalizations continue to tick upward

Jul. 17—Alaska on Friday reported 284 new coronavirus infections identified over the past two days and no new COVID-19-related deaths, according to the state Department of Health and Social Services.

While virus hospitalizations are well below where they were during Alaska's worst spikes last fall and winter, that number has been steadily rising along with cases. By Friday, state data showed there were 57 people with confirmed cases of COVID-19 hospitalized around the state — more than twice the daily average for most of June, and an increase of seven new hospitalizations since Wednesday.

Jared Kosin, president of the Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association, said Friday that Anchorage hospitals have been particularly busy this week, although the increased activity appeared to be driven by non-coronavirus-related hospitalizations.

"In the summertime, you typically do have more trauma events. So that drives volume," he said. Kosin said he and other health officials were continuing to watch COVID-19-related hospitalization numbers closely.

His biggest concern at the moment is a significant coronavirus outbreak in Sitka that this week grew to more than 100 new cases, including some among residents who were fully vaccinated. Sitka's vaccination rate is relatively high — 74% of its eligible population has received at least one dose.

"If the outbreak there ... is a symptom of what's to come elsewhere, and then we start looking at transfer patterns going in, it could become problematic pretty fast," Kosin said.

Vaccines were never touted as 100% effective at preventing illness or cases, but they are effective at preventing serious consequences from the disease, which Alaska's recent data reflects. A small number of cases among vaccinated people is expected, health officials say.

Daily case counts have also been steadily rising since mid-June, with an acceleration beginning in July. Alaska moved back up to the intermediate alert level last week — and the Municipality of Anchorage returned to a high alert level this week for the first time since mid-May.

Alert levels are calculated based on per capita virus incidence over the past two weeks, and are an important way of tracking trends. An intermediate alert level indicates moderate community transmission with some undetected cases and infrequent outbreaks, while a high alert level means widespread community spread and frequent outbreaks.

Health officials continue to encourage Alaskans to get vaccinated against the virus, noting that the vaccines have been shown to be highly effective at preventing severe illness from the virus, including the more contagious variants.

The recent rise in cases, reflecting a national trend, can likely be attributed in part to the highly contagious delta variant first identified in India in December and in Alaska in May, health officials have said. A report released this week by the state showed there have been 58 delta cases identified through sequencing efforts in Alaska so far — though that's likely an undercount since only about a third of cases are sequenced. The newer strain has been linked to higher hospitalization rates, and is considered the most transmissible variant yet.

According to a recent report, between February and June, breakthrough coronavirus cases among Alaskans who had been fully vaccinated are rare: They represented about 4.2% of the state's total cases during that time frame, while just 1% of Alaska's COVID-19 hospitalizations have involved fully vaccinated individuals.

Health officials have said that some people who are vaccinated — particularly those who are immunocompromised or live with unvaccinated individuals — may want to consider wearing masks indoors as an added precaution.

Alaska's death rate per capita remains among the lowest in the country, though the state's size, health care system and other factors complicate national comparisons. In total, 374 Alaskans and seven nonresidents with COVID-19 have died since the pandemic reached the state last spring.

By Friday, roughly 56% of the state's population age 12 and older had received at least their first dose of the vaccine while 51% of all residents 12 and older were considered fully vaccinated. Those percentages reflect a slowdown in the pace of vaccinations this summer, and state health officials have said that boosting Alaska's vaccination rate will be key to staving off outbreaks in the fall and winter. Among all states, Alaska ranked No. 29 in the country for most vaccinated residents per capita.

Of the 264 new resident cases reported in Alaska on Thursday and Friday, there were 115 in Anchorage, 38 in Sitka, 17 in Cordova, 14 in Homer, 10 in Kenai, eight in Fairbanks, eight in Wasilla, seven in Anchor Point, five in Juneau, four in Kodiak, three in Hooper Bay, three in North Pole, three in Palmer, three in Petersburg, two in Bethel, two in Chugiak, two in Eagle River, two in Seward, two in Skagway, two in Soldotna and one each in Chevak, Healy, Sterling, Girdwood, Kotzebue and Willow, plus two in an unidentified region of the state.

Among smaller communities not named to protect privacy, there were two in the Bethel Census Area and one each in the Fairbanks North Star Borough, the southern Kenai Peninsula Borough, the Kusilvak Census Area and the Northwest Arctic Borough.

There were also 20 nonresident cases identified: three in Homer, two in Anchorage, two in Cordova, two in Juneau, two in Kenai, two in Kodiak, one in Fairbanks, one in Girdwood, one in Seward, one in Sitka, one in Soldotna and two in unidentified regions of the state.

Of all the coronavirus tests completed in the state over the last week, 3.52% came back positive.

Note: The health department now updates its coronavirus dashboard on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays excluding holidays.