Tracking COVID-19 in Alaska: 43 new cases, no new deaths reported Tuesday

By Anchorage Daily News

Updated: September 16, 2020 Published: September 15, 2020

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Alaska on Tuesday announced 43 new cases of COVID-19, according to the Department of Health and Social Services COVID-19 dashboard.

The department announced no new deaths Tuesday. A total of 44 Alaskans have died with COVID-19 since the pandemic began here in March. The state’s death rate is among the lowest in the country.

Statewide as of Tuesday, 42 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 while two other hospital patients were awaiting test results, according to state data. Of Alaska’s 153 intensive care unit beds, 85 were in use statewide.

The city of Juneau reported 13 new cases, including four cases that were tied to a social gathering that took place last month and was attended by several bar employees — a cluster of 31 cases in total. New cases in Juneau prompted a closure of indoor bar services and limited restaurant capacity there over the weekend.

Active cases of COVID-19 among Alaska residents rose from 4,141 on Monday to 4,158 on Tuesday. There were 709 active cases 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 42 new cases of COVID-19 involving residents, 22 were in Anchorage; one was in Kodiak; five were in Fairbanks; four were in Wasilla; one was in Utqiagvik and one was in Douglas.

Among communities smaller than 1,000 not identified to protect confidentiality, there were five cases in the Bethel Census Area; one in the combined Bristol Bay and Lake and Peninsula boroughs and two in the Kusilvak Census Area.

A single nonresident case was reported in Ketchikan.

The state’s testing positivity rate as of Tuesday was 2.11% over a seven-day rolling average.

-Morgan Krakow

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