Alaska reports 11 COVID-19 deaths and near-record hospitalizations Tuesday

Alaska on Tuesday reported 11 more virus-related deaths, 753 new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations near record levels.

Alaska’s case rate over the past seven days remains the highest in the country and nearly five times the national average, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The deaths reported Tuesday involved an Anchorage man in his 50s; a man and a woman from Anchorage in their 60s; two women and one man from Anchorage in their 80s or older; a Fairbanks man in his 50s; a Fairbanks man in his 80s or older; a man and a woman from North Pole, both in their 70s; and a nonresident in his 50s who was diagnosed with COVID-19 in Fairbanks.

[Alaska Railroad rescinds employee vaccine mandate just days after announcing policy]

A total of 688 residents and 26 nonresidents in the state have died with the virus. Over the past week, Alaska’s death rate per 100,000 is the ninth-highest among U.S. states, but looking at the pandemic overall, Alaska has the fourth-lowest death rate in the country, according to CDC data.

While the state’s daily virus counts have plateaued recently, virus-related hospitalizations and deaths typically follow a few weeks behind spikes in cases, and hospital administrators say it may take weeks for a decline in cases to be reflected in hospitalization numbers.

As of Tuesday, hospitals reported having 234 COVID-positive patients, including 37 people on ventilators — a reflection of continued stress on the state’s health care system brought on the rapid spread of the delta variant in recent months.

About 64.8% of eligible Alaskans have received at least one vaccine dose, and around 60% of eligible Alaskans are considered fully vaccinated.

Statewide Tuesday, 9.32% of tests came back positive based on a seven-day rolling average.

[FDA advisers endorse reduced dose of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for kids 5 to 11]