OVERVIEW – 1,290 new cases | 7 deaths | 26 hospitalizations | 64.6% of Alaskans 5+ vaccinated

WEEKLY UPDATE – Starting Wednesday April 6, DHSS will update all COVID-19 dashboards weekly on Wednesdays. This change is part of our transition toward longer-term data reporting. Because there can be substantial day-to-day variation in data, weekly reporting is generally more helpful for understanding trends. Weekly updates are also consistent with changes being made on a national level and by other states.

For the latest on COVID-19 in Alaska, read the DHSS weekly update and DHSS data summaries: https://dhss.alaska.gov/dph/Epi/id/Pages/COVID-19/clinicalupdate.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 907-646-3322 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.

VACCINATIONS – These rates cover all Alaskan residents including those reported by the Department of Defense and Veterans Administration (DoD/VA).

CASES – DHSS today announced 1,290 new people identified with COVID-19 in Alaska.

HOSPITALIZATIONS & DEATHS – There have been a total of 3,749 resident hospitalizations and 1,202 resident deaths.

Seven new Alaska resident hospitalizations and seven 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 Alaskan residents who died were:

• a female resident of Anchorage age 80+
• a male resident of Anchorage in his 70s
• a male resident of Anchorage in his 70s
• a male resident of Anchorage in his 40s
• a male resident of Cordova in his 70s
• a male resident of Kenai Peninsula Borough-South age 80+
• a male resident of Palmer in his 60s

Our thoughts are with the family and loved ones.

There are currently 26 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 who are hospitalized.   Two of these patients are on a ventilator. The percentage of patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19 is 2.1%.

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. 

COMMUNITY CASE RATE LEVELS – We encourage the public and community leaders to continue to be aware of case rates in their area.  On the dashboard, the Alert Levels Map has been replaced by a Community Case Rates Map.  This map presents the total number of new reported resident cases per 100,000 persons in the past 7 days for each borough/census area. 

A tab monitoring CDC COVID-19 Community Levels has been added which also considers COVID-19 impacts on hospital admissions and hospital beds.  CDC looks at the combination of three metrics — new COVID-19 admissions per 100,000 population in the past 7 days, the percent of staffed inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients, and total new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population in the past 7 days — to determine the COVID-19 community level.  Learn more here.

The current statewide community case rate – based on the reported number of cases per 100,000 people over the past 7 days – is 174.8.  For boroughs and census areas:  Six areas are at >400 cases, five areas are at 200-399 cases, ten areas are at 100-199 cases, three areas are at 50-99 cases and four areas are at 0-49 cases per 100,000.

Find case rate levels for individual boroughs and census areas by clicking on the Community Case Rates Map tab on the cases dashboard at https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/af2efc8bffbf4cdc83c2d1a134354074/.

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