Tracking COVID-19 in Alaska: 1 new death and 103 new cases reported Saturday

The state on Saturday reported one new death and 103 new cases COVID-19 according to the Department of Health and Social Services COVID-19 dashboard.

The person who died was an Anchorage woman in her eighties, the state’s health department said. She is the 44th Alaskan with COVID-19 to die since the pandemic began here in March, state data showed. The state’s death rate is among the lowest in the country.

Statewide as of Saturday, 32 people were hospitalized with COVID-19, according to state data. Of Alaska’s 153 intensive care unit beds, 77 were in use statewide.

Active cases of COVID-19 among Alaska residents rose from 3,918 on Friday to 4,004 on Saturday. Another 706 active cases were reported 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 101 new cases of COVID-19 involving residents, 63 were in Anchorage, including one in Chugiak and three Eagle River; 17 were in Fairbanks; one was in Palmer; one was in Wasilla; one was in Nome; one was in Utqiagvik; six were in Juneau; one was in Ketchikan; one was in Bethel and one was in Dillingham.

Among communities smaller than 1,000 not identified to protect confidentiality, there were two in the Fairbanks North Star Borough; one in the Nome Census Area and five were in the Bethel Census Area.

Of the nonresident cases one was a person in the seafood industry in the combined Bristol Bay and Lake and Peninsula boroughs while another nonresident case’s location was under investigation, health department data showed.

The state’s testing positivity rate as of Saturday was 1.73% over a seven-day rolling average.

— Morgan Krakow