Alaska reports 3 deaths and 441 COVID-19 cases over 2 days

Alaska on Wednesday reported three deaths and 441 new COVID-19 cases over the previous two days as the number of people hospitalized with active cases fell slightly.

By Wednesday, there were 76 people hospitalized statewide with active infections, down slightly from 77 patients Monday. Around 8% of all hospital patients in the state were COVID-positive.

“You can see that (hospitalizations) continue on a general downward trajectory, which is great,” Dr. Joe McLaughlin, Alaska’s state epidemiologist, said Wednesday.

Those numbers don’t include some people recovering from the disease who need continued care. They represent a significant decrease from the high of more than 200 people hospitalized on average in September and October.

The state’s test positivity rate, which reflects the number of positive tests out of the total performed, was 4.5% as of Wednesday. Anything above 5% can indicate high transmission and not enough testing, epidemiologists say.

By Wednesday, Alaska ranked 31st among states for its seven-day COVID-19 case rate, with 208.1 cases per 100,000 people, according to the CDC. New cases declined about 11% since last week.

“We were ranked No. 1 in the nation for quite a while by a large margin, so it’s good to finally see us drop down,” McLaughlin said, referencing the state’s delta-driven surge through September and October.

Alaska health officials continue to monitor for the new omicron variant of the coronavirus that’s raising questions and concerns around the world because of its many mutations, state health officials say. Omicron has been detected in numerous states but not yet in Alaska.

“We don’t yet have any reported cases (of the new variant) in Alaska, but that doesn’t mean it’s not here, it just means that we haven’t yet detected it,” McLaughlin said.