10 more COVID-19 cases confirmed in Alaska, bringing total to 32

Updated: March 23, 2020 Published: March 23, 2020

FILE - In this March 17, 2020, file photo a health worker displays the packaged nasopharyngeal swab, which goes about two inches into the nasal cavity, used on patients at a drive-through COVID-19 testing station for University of Washington Medicine patients in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)

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Ten more confirmed cases of COVID-19 were reported in Alaska on Sunday, bringing the total number of cases statewide to 32, according to the Department of Health and Social Services.

Seven of the new cases were reported in Anchorage, two in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough and one in Juneau. All cases were reported in adults, but none were hospitalized, the department said in a statement. The new cases were the first to be confirmed in Juneau and the Mat-Su.

One of the cases is travel-related, but state officials said the other nine are not known to be travel-related.

“At least two of the new Anchorage cases that we are investigating have no clearly identified contact with a confirmed case,” said Dr. Joe McLaughlin, Alaska’s State Epidemiologist. “This indicates that community transmission of COVID-19 appears to be occurring in the Anchorage area.”

Of the 32 confirmed cases, seven were in Fairbanks; 13 in Anchorage; six in Ketchikan; two in Mat-Su, and one each in Juneau, Sterling, Soldotna and Seward.

Tess Williams

Tess Williams is a reporter focusing on breaking news and public safety. Before joining the ADN in 2019, she was a reporter for the Grand Forks Herald in North Dakota. Contact her at twilliams@adn.com.