OVERVIEW – 4,519 new cases | 5 deaths | 81 hospitalizations | Statewide alert level: high | 57.9% 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 – 63.3% of Alaskans age 5 and older have received at least their first vaccine dose.
57.9% 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: 78.1%
- YK-Delta Region: 74.1%
- Other Southeast Region – Northern: 72.8%
- Southwest Region: 68.2%
- Other Southeast Region – Southern: 65.3%
- Anchorage Region: 62.6%
- Northwest Region: 59.8%
- Other Interior Region: 57.6%
- Fairbanks North Star Borough: 49.9%
- Kenai Peninsula Region: 48.1%
- Matanuska-Susitna Region: 40.8%
CASES – DHSS today announced 5 deaths of Alaska residents and 4,519 new people identified with COVID-19 in Alaska.
4,381 were residents of: Anchorage (2,100), Fairbanks (465), Eagle River (230), Greater Wasilla Area (212), Juneau (172), Greater Palmer Area (98), Kodiak (98), Ketchikan (93), North Pole (85), Kusilvak Census Area (57 in 8 communities), Chugiak (56), Bethel Census Area (53 in 15 communities), Homer (44), Hoonah-Angoon and Yakutat combined (43), Nome Census Area (39 in 10 communities), Bethel (34), Kotzebue (33), Kenai (30), Soldotna (29), Nome (27), Utqiaġvik (27), Metlakatla (26), Unalaska (26), Wrangell (26), Cordova (25), Girdwood (18), Petersburg (18), Seward (16), Sitka (14), Delta Junction (13), Bristol Bay/ Lake and Peninsula Combined (12 in 4 communities), Northwest Arctic Borough (12 in 6 communities), Kenai Peninsula Borough-South (11 in 3 communities), Copper River Census Area (10 in 4 communities), North Slope Borough (10 in 5 communities), Dillingham (8), Haines (8), Valdez (8), Mat-Su Borough (7 in 2 communities), Southeast Fairbanks Census Area (7 in 3 communities), Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area (7 in 4 communities), Dillingham Census Area (6 in 4 communities), Kenai Peninsula Borough-North (6 in 4 communities), Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area (6 in 2 communities), Anchor Point (5), Houston/Big Lake Area (5), Kodiak Island Borough (5 in 3 communities), Aleutians East Borough (4 in 2 communities), Craig (4), Fairbanks North Star Borough (4), Hooper Bay (4), Ketchikan Gateway Borough (3), Nikiski (3), Skagway (3), Sterling (3), Tok (3), Ester (2), Healy (2), Willow (2), and one each in Chevak, Denali Borough, Fritz Creek, and Sutton-Alpine.
138 nonresident cases were identified in:
- Anchorage: 50 with purpose under investigation
- Fairbanks: 23 with purpose under investigation
- Aleutians East Borough: 13 with purpose seafood, 8 with purpose under investigation
- Prudhoe Bay: 7 with purpose oil
- Juneau: 1 with purpose mining, 3 with purpose under investigation
- Homer: 3 with purpose under investigation
- Palmer: 3 with purpose under investigation
- Sitka: 3 with purpose under investigation
- Wasilla: 2 with purpose under investigation
- Ketchikan: 1 with purpose under investigation
- Nome: 1 with purpose under investigation
- Bristol Bay/Lake and Peninsula Borough: 1 with purpose under investigation
- Dillingham: 1 with purpose under investigation
- Bethel Census Area: 1 with purpose under investigation
- Location under investigation: 7 with purpose mining, 10 with purpose under investigation
One resident case and one nonresident case were added to the state’s overall total due to data verification procedures, bringing the total number of Alaska resident cases to 167,008 and the total number of nonresident cases to 6,131.
HOSPITALIZATIONS & DEATHS – There have been a total of 3,311 resident hospitalizations and 953 resident deaths. 21 new resident hospitalizations and five 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 Alaskans who died were:
- A female resident of Anchorage in her 70s
- A male resident of Anchorage in his 70s
- A male resident of Anchorage in his 60s
- A male resident of Anchorage in his 60s
- A male resident of Anchorage in his 50s
Our thoughts are with their family and loved ones.
There are currently 81 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 who are hospitalized and six additional patients who are considered persons under investigation (PUI) for a total of 87 current COVID-related hospitalizations. Eight of these patients are on ventilators. The percentage of patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19 is 6.6%.
TESTING – Data on our testing dashboard are archived and still available, but updates to testing data can now be found on a tab of the cases dashboard: https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/af2efc8bffbf4cdc83c2d1a134354074/. As of today, DHSS is no longer reporting percent positivity or the cumulative number of tests on our dashboard. This is in part because of the increased use in at-home rapid antigen testing, where results are not reported to the state. In addition, effective today, some testing organizations will only be required to report positive COVID-19 test results and will not need to report negative results to Section of Epidemiology. This change will allow those organizations to focus on reporting positive results and mitigation instead of the time-consuming task of reporting negative results. These two changes make percent positivity a less meaningful metric, which is why DHSS is no longer tracking this on its dashboard. If you have any questions about the data or these changes please email covidquestions@alaska.gov.
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 1,522.3. 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.
