COVID-19 DATA SUMMARY – Mar. 30, 2022

Reporting data for Mar. 25 – Mar. 29, 2022

OVERVIEW – 821 new cases | 6 deaths* | 34 hospitalizations | Statewide alert level: high | 59.6% of Alaskans 5+ vaccinated

* – As of the week starting on Feb. 6, newly accounted COVID-19 deaths will be reported weekly on Wednesdays. 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.

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 – 64.8% of Alaskans age 5 and older have received at least their first vaccine dose.

59.6% 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: 79.6%
Y-K Delta Region: 76.9%
Other Southeast Region – Northern: 74.1%
Southwest Region: 69.7%
Other Southeast Region – Southern: 67%
Anchorage Region: 64.4%
Northwest Region: 62.5%
Other Interior Region: 59.9%
Fairbanks North Star Borough: 51.2%
Kenai Peninsula Region: 49.2%
Matanuska-Susitna Region: 42%

CASES – DHSS today announced 812 new people identified with COVID-19 in Alaska.

545 were residents of: Anchorage (263), Juneau (54), Northwest Arctic Borough (46 in 5 communities), Eagle River (43), Dillingham (42), Bethel Census Area (39 in 9 communities), Fairbanks (35), Greater Palmer Area (30), Nome Census Area (25 in 7 communities), Greater Wasilla Area (23), Wrangell (19), Dillingham Census Area (17 in 3 communities), Nome (15), North Slope Borough (15 in 3 communities), Sitka (15), Ketchikan (14), Seward (12), Soldotna (12), Chugiak (8), Bristol Bay/ Lake and Peninsula Boroughs combined (7 in 2 communities), Kenai Peninsula Borough-South (7 in 2 communities), Petersburg (7), Bethel (6), Kodiak (6), Hooper Bay (5), Kotzebue (5), Kenai Peninsula Borough-North (4 in 2 communities), North Pole (4), Sterling (4), Homer (3), Kenai (3), Kusilvak Census Area (3 in 2 communities), Mat-Su Borough (3), Utqiagvik (3), Denali Borough (2), Haines (2), and one each in Aleutians West Census Area, Anchor Point, Copper River Census Area, Cordova, Delta Junction, Hoonah-Angoon and Yakutat Combined, Metlakatla, Nikiski, Prince of Wales-Hyder, Skagway, and Valdez.

Nine nonresident cases were identified in:

Anchorage: 2 with purpose under investigation
Nome: 2 with purpose under investigation
Fairbanks: 1 with purpose under investigation
Kotzebue: 1 with purpose under investigation
Location under investigation: 3 with purpose under investigation

One resident case and four nonresident cases were added to the state’s overall total due to data verification procedures, bringing the total number of Alaska resident cases to 239,233 and the total number of nonresident cases to 7,978.

HOSPITALIZATIONS & DEATHS – There have been a total of 3,741 resident hospitalizations and 1,195 resident deaths.

Four new Alaska resident hospitalizations and six Alaska resident deaths were reported. Newly accounted COVID-19 deaths are reported on Wednesdays. 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:

A male resident of Anchorage in his 70s
A female resident of Anchorage in her 60s
A female resident of Anchorage in her 60s
A male resident of Fairbanks age 80+
A female Southeast Fairbanks Census Area resident in her 60s
A male resident of Wasilla age 80+

Our thoughts are with their family and loved ones.

There are currently 34 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 who are hospitalized and three additional patients who are considered persons under investigation (PUI) for a total of 37 current COVID-related hospitalizations. Two of these patients are on a ventilator. The percentage of patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19 is 2.4%.

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/. 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 185.8. For boroughs and census areas: 18 areas are at the high alert level (>100 cases), five areas are at the substantial alert level (50-99.99), five areas are at the moderate alert level (10-49.99) and no areas are at the low alert level (0-9.99).