Tracking COVID-19 in Alaska: 129 new cases reported Friday as Labor Day holiday raises concerns

The state on Friday reported 129 new cases of COVID-19 as the Labor Day weekend raised concerns about social gatherings that could lead to additional new infections.

The state announced no new deaths Friday after three were reported this week. Forty Alaskans have died with COVID-19. The state’s death rate is among the lowest in the country.

Anchorage health officials confirmed Friday that one person associated with a large outbreak at the Brother Francis Shelter has died. There were 89 cases at the Brother Francis Shelter, including 10 new cases announced Thursday.

Two additional staff members at the McLaughlin Youth Center have tested positive and are in isolation, according to a statement from state health officials sent Friday. A total of 24 cases have been confirmed at the center, including 15 youths and nine staff members.

Authorities warned of the possibility of a new surge in cases following the holiday weekend. They urged people to celebrate outdoors as much as possible, maintain social distancing and wear masks.

Anchorage municipal epidemiologist Janet Johnston described a “ripple effect” of cases after the Fourth of July weekend, when cases increased slowly before rising suddenly.

“We worry about that this weekend,” Johnston said during a briefing Friday. “We really are asking people to be very careful.”

Testing is probably detecting one in every 10 positive cases because of the high number of people who have the virus but have few or no symptoms, she said. “Really, anybody could be infected.”

Statewide as of Friday, 40 people with COVID-19 were hospitalized while three other hospital patients were awaiting test results, according to state data. Of Alaska’s 153 intensive care unit beds, 79 were in use statewide, according to the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services COVID-19 dashboard.

Active cases of COVID-19 among Alaska residents rose from 3,336 on Thursday to 3,450 on Friday. There were an additional 684 active cases among nonresidents.

Of the new cases, it wasn’t clear how many patients were showing symptoms of the virus when they tested positive.

Of the 121 new cases of COVID-19 involving residents, 84 were in Anchorage, plus one in Girdwood; one was in Soldotna; 17 were in Fairbanks and four were in North Pole; one was in Big Lake, four were in Palmer, and four were in Wasilla; one was in Utqiagvik; three were in Juneau; and one was in Wrangell. Among communities smaller than 1,000 that are not identified to protect resident confidentiality, there was one in the Valdez-Cordova Census Area and one in the Prince of Wales-Hyder Census Area.

Of the eight nonresident cases, six were in the Aleutians East Borough, one was in the Ketchikan Gateway Borough and one was in Anchorage,

The state’s testing positivity rate as of Friday was 1.82% over a seven-day rolling average.

— Zaz Hollander and Annie Berman

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