The purpose of this email newsletter is to help provide better context to Alaska's case count data. Please note that the cases described here are from the past week and do not reflect current totals.  We plan on publishing this communication weekly. 

This data summary covers COVID-19 in Alaska from Saturday, June 13 through Friday, June 19, 2020

New cases

This week saw 91 new cases in Alaskans and 34 in nonresidents, for a total of 743 and 104 respectively. No additional deaths were reported this week. 9 Alaskans were reported to require hospitalization this week for COVID-19, for a total of 61 since the epidemic began. 

Communities affected this week 

New additional cases were found in Alaskans who are residents of the following communities:

• Anchorage (26), Chugiak (1), Eagle River (3) and Girdwood (1), for a total of 31 new cases and 346 overall in the Anchorage Municipality
• Homer (4), Kenai (1), South Kenai Peninsula Borough (2) and Soldotna (4), for a total of 11 new cases and 119 overall in the Kenai Peninsula Borough
• Kodiak (1), for a total of 3 cases overall in the Kodiak Island Borough
• Fairbanks (15) and North Pole (7), for a total of 22 new cases and 114 overall in the Fairbanks North Star Borough
• Big Lake (2), Palmer (6) and Wasilla (3), for a total of 11 new cases and 54 overall in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough
• North Slope Borough (2), for a total of 3 cases overall
• Haines (1), for a total of 2 cases overall in the Haines Borough
• Juneau (2), for a total of 39 cases overall in Juneau City and Borough
• Ketchikan (2), for a total of 21 cases overall in Ketchikan Gateway Borough
• Sitka (3), for a total of 11 cases overall in Sitka City and Borough
• Wrangell (1), for a total of 3 cases overall in Wrangell City and Borough
• Bethel Census Area (2), for a total of 6 cases overall
• Bristol Bay plus Lake and Peninsula (1), for a total of 2 cases overall

This week, there were no new cases in the Southeast Fairbanks Census Bureau (which has had 3 cases overall), Nome Census Area (5 cases overall), Northwest Arctic Borough (4 cases overall), Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area (2 cases overall) and Petersburg Borough (4 cases overall). 

Nonresident cases

Of the 34 nonresident cases identified this week, 11 were in the Bristol Bay plus Lake and Peninsula Borough, 7 were in Anchorage, 3 in Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, 3 in Ketchikan Gateway Borough, 3 in Fairbanks North Star Borough, two in Wrangell-Petersburg Census Area and one each in Sitka City and Borough, Valdez-Cordova Census Area, Nome and Aleutians East Census Area. Currently, one nonresident has a location not yet recorded. 

Recovered cases

This week, 59 Alaskans were released from isolation following their COVID-19 diagnosis, for a total of 464, or 62% of total cases. 

Testing update

By Friday evening, 86,918 tests had been conducted. 14,510 of them were performed this week, with an average positive rate of around 0.7%. This was the second full week of traveler testing, with testing capabilities expanding at points of entry to Alaska, including by air, land and sea. Travelers arriving to Alaska by any mode of transportation are required to complete a 14 day quarantine or test negative for COVID-19. 

Tourism, visitors and airport testing

This week saw 12,044 travelers screened at airports entering Alaska. Complete data were immediately available for 11,084 arrivals. Of those, 4,237 (38%) had opted to pre-test within 72 hours of arrival and 4,894 (44%) chose to be tested on entry to Alaska. The remaining 1953 (18%) selected the 14 day quarantine option. 13 new cases were discovered through airport arrival testing, for a test positivity rate of 0.27%. 

Of the 34 cases in nonresidents this week, 7 were linked with tourism or visiting, including 2 in Ketchikan, 1 in Sitka City and Borough, 2 in Fairbanks North Star Borough, and 2 in Anchorage. 

Nursing homes

One additional case was found after retesting all residents and staff at the Providence Transitional Care Center, for a total of 46 cases among 19 residents and 27 caregivers. A fourth round of testing was completed this week, with results pending. 

Last week, after an employee at the Fairbanks Pioneer Home tested positive for COVID-19, all residents and staff were tested. Those tests have all been completed and all results were 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 or who has come in contact with a known COVID-19 case, the feasibility of testing staff every two weeks is being evaluated.

Ketchikan

A traveler arriving in Ketchikan caused widespread concern after they were found to have attended multiple social gatherings prior to receiving a positive test result from a swab taken on arrival. Contact tracing is ongoing and contacts will quarantine for 14 days, while some sports practices were cancelled, an office was closed and many others in the community were negatively impacted. This illustrates the importance of quarantining until any traveler results are received. Because Alaska’s approach to controlling COVID-19 depends on Alaskans and visitors assuming personal responsibility, everyone has a role in following health mandates and guidance to protect our communities. Local emergency response leaders are coping with community frustration while ensuring COVID-19 patients are safe and supported with medical care. 

Seafood industry

Of 34 nonresident cases total identified this week, 21 are in workers in the seafood industry, including 5 in Anchorage, 11 in Bristol Bay plus Lake and Peninsula Borough, 1 in Aleutians East Census Area, 1 in Valdez-Cordova Census Area, 1 in Wrangell-Petersburg Census Area, 1 in Ketchikan Gateway Borough and 1 with location not specified. 

Other industries

Other nonresidents who were found to have COVID-19 work in the mining industry (1 in Fairbanks North Star Borough and 3 in Southeast Fairbanks Census Area), while one case in Nome and one in Wrangell-Petersburg Census Area were in nonresidents here to work in other occupations.

Three Alaskans in Fairbanks found to have COVID-19 this week work in healthcare, while six cases in one household were found at Fort Wainwright. 

Reporting of deaths due to COVID-19

12 Alaskans are reported as having died from COVID-19, meaning that the virus was listed as one of up to four conditions on their death certificate that contributed to their death. This follows federal reporting conventions that require doctors to list multiple contributing causes for a patient’s death. Only conditions that contribute to the person’s passing may be listed on a death certificate, so if a person has COVID-19 at the time of their death but it did not contribute to their death, COVID-19 could not be listed on their death certificate and their passing would not be included in the count of Alaskans who had died from COVID-19. 

Data timeliness and accuracy

Weekly summaries are published early the following week because that gives the state public health workforce time to collect data, verify its accuracy, make sure cases have not been counted in multiple places and verify patient identities. This summary is designed to more accurately summarize the Alaska Coronavirus Response Hub dashboard, which displays data as it was collected in the past 24 hours as well as maintaining a record of available data since the pandemic began. The dashboard data occasionally change as new information is received or as cases are reclassified once verification takes place, since this process takes time and case counts sometimes change with more information. 

Further information

Please see the State of Alaska COVID-19 information page for more information about the virus and how individuals and businesses can protect themselves and others from transmission. 

For the most up-to-date case information, see the Alaska Coronavirus Response Hub dashboard. Some data may change as more information comes to light through contact tracing and other public health work. 

For questions regarding DHSS COVID response, including mandates and alerts, email covidquestions@alaska.gov. Since DHSS is experiencing a high volume of inquiries, the Frequently Asked Questions webpage can often be the quickest route to an answer regarding testing, travel, health mandates and other COVID-19 information. 

For DHSS media inquiries, please contact clinton.bennett@alaska.gov.

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