Tracking COVID-19 in Alaska: 95 new cases reported Sunday, all in residents

The state on Sunday reported 95 new cases of COVID-19, according to the Department of Health and Social Services COVID-19 dashboard.

The state announced no new deaths Sunday. Forty-five 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 Sunday, 38 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 while five other hospital patients were awaiting test results, according to state data. Of Alaska’s 153 intensive care unit beds, 82 were in use statewide.

Active cases of COVID-19 among Alaska residents rose from 4,472 on Saturday to 4,565 on Sunday. There were 719 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 95 new cases of COVID-19 involving residents, 32 were in Anchorage and four in Eagle River; 17 were in Fairbanks, five were in Juneau, three in North Pole, two each in Palmer, Sitka, Utqiaġvik and Wasilla and one each in Homer and Yakutat.

Among communities smaller than 1,000 not identified to protect confidentiality, there were nine new cases in the Northwest Arctic Borough, six in the Nome Census Area, five in the Bethel Census Area, and one each in the North Slope Borough, Valdez-Cordova Census are and Yukon-Koyukuk census areas.

No new nonresident cases were reported Sunday.

The state’s testing positivity rate as of Sunday was 2.31% over a seven-day rolling average.

-Michelle Theriault Boots