Third Alaskan dies of COVID-19 as state confirms 12 more cases

A 73-year-old man died in an Anchorage hospital Saturday after testing positive for COVID-19, marking the state’s third death from the virus, state health officials said.

There were 12 new confirmed COVID-19 cases in Alaska on Sunday, bringing the total number of cases to 114.

Seven people have been hospitalized across the state, according to the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services.

Among the new cases were four in Anchorage, four in Fairbanks and one each in Juneau, Eagle River, Ketchikan and North Pole.

Six of the people contracted the virus through close contact with a previously diagnosed case, the department said in an online statement. One of the new cases is travel-related and five are under investigation.

Five of the new cases are adults older than 60, two of the cases are adults between ages 30-59, four of the cases are adults age 19-29 and one person under 18 contracted the virus, according to the health department.

The state saw its first confirmed COVID-19 case on March 12 and the number of cases surpassed 100 over the weekend.

The 73-year-old man died Saturday evening after he was admitted to an Anchorage hospital and tested for COVID-19 on Monday, DHSS said.

Two other deaths included a 76-year-old Petersburg man who died in Washington state and a 63-year-old woman died from the virus Friday at Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage.

[First known patient to die in Alaska of COVID-19 had not traveled, was social distancing, family says]

[Family of Southeast Alaska man who died from COVID-19 in Washington state warns: ‘Just stay home’]

There are currently 59 confirmed cases in the Anchorage area, seven in the Gulf Coast region, 28 cases in the Interior, two in Mat-Su and 18 in Southeast Alaska. A resident at a Fairbanks care facility tested positive for the virus Saturday, prompting all employees and residents there to be tested.

The state has tested 3,654 people as of Sunday, according to data from DHSS.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the gender of the third patient to die of COVID-19. It was a 73-year-old man not a woman.