Alaska coronavirus Q&A: How can active cases be declining in the state if daily counts remain high? Should I get a flu shot if I have COVID-19?

As the pandemic wears on, we’re continuing to find answers to readers’ virus-related questions. Have a question of your own? Fill out the form at the bottom of this article or do it here.

Why has the number of active cases been declining in the past week despite high daily case counts?

The daily new case counts in Alaska have been notably high in the past week, and the percentage of positive cases out of total tests conducted was the highest it has been since April as of Friday. Yet state numbers show total active case count has been falling. Health officials say this contradiction is mainly due to a change in when cases get marked as ‘recovered,' and a resolution to earlier data reporting lags.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the count of cases marked on the state’s coronavirus data dashboard as ‘recovered’ has always been delayed because cases do not automatically become ‘recovered’ once it has been 10 days, explained Coleman Cutchins, a state pharmacist, during a call this week.

Instead, the state’s public health department contacts people to release them from their infectious period, and that process (and recording that process) can take a while, Cutchins explained.

“However, recently we have been able to catch up more on these records, so it looks as though active cases are declining when really we are catching up on reporting recovered cases,” he said.

In other words, the data that shows active coronavirus cases in Alaska are declining is somewhat misleading.

“We’re definitely on an upward trajectory,” said Joe McLaughlin, the state’s chief epidemiologist, during a call this week.

The average daily state case rate this week was 11.7 cases per 100,000 people, up from 10.2 last week and 8.7 the week before, according to a weekly report sent out by the state on Thursday. This means the state is currently in a ‘high’ alert level, which DHSS defines as “widespread community transmission with many undetected cases and frequent discrete outbreaks.”

Should people with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 get a flu shot?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that while it is very important for as many people as possible to get vaccinated for the flu this year, they’ve recently recommended that vaccination be postponed for anyone who has suspected or confirmed COVID-19, regardless of whether they have symptoms, “until they have met the criteria to discontinue their isolation.”

The reason is to avoid exposing healthcare workers and other patients to the virus that causes COVID-19.

Patients should notify their provider’s office or clinic in advance if they currently have or develop any symptoms of COVID-19, the department said.

Once fully recovered and cleared to discontinue isolation, the CDC recommends that anyone who previously had COVID-19 get their flu shot.

Dr. Anne Zink, the state’s top doctor, said in an opinion piece this week, that getting vaccinated in general — and in the flu shot in particular — is one of the most important things people can do to protect the health of their communities.

“If a bad flu season coincides with a spike in COVID-19 cases, flu vaccinations are one way we can help to prevent our limited health care system from becoming overwhelmed,” she wrote.

Some states are implementing COVID-19 notification phone apps to assist with local contact tracing efforts. Is Alaska considering using something like this?

Earlier this month, Apple and Google announced that their version of a contact tracing phone application will be built into the latest software updates on their phones. In states that opt in, Bluetooth signals from the phones of users who also opt in can be used to identify close contacts, and then the system will send notifications to anyone who may have been exposed. The companies say they won’t track or store any of the users' private data.

Public health officials in Alaska said this week that they don’t have any immediate plans to implement a system like this but haven’t ruled it out.

“We’re constantly evaluating technology sources, and different ways to do contract tracing,” Zink said during a call with reporters this week. “We’re also very mindful of privacy and making sure that is taken into account.”

Why doesn’t the Daily News note the existence of comorbidities when reporting on COVID-19 deaths in Alaska?

The Daily News tries to get as much information about each case as possible. But generally, however, that information is not publicly available for privacy reasons. Official information about each death comes from the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services. The state no longer provides information about any specific underlying health issues associated with individual COVID-19 deaths.