Alaska on Wednesday reports 550 COVID-19 cases over 2 days

• Alaska on Wednesday reported 545 cases of COVID-19 among residents and five among nonresidents over a two-day period, and 28 additional resident deaths.

• By Wednesday, there were 62 COVID-positive patients hospitalized statewide, down from 76 hospitalizations as of Monday.

• Cases last week declined by 26% compared to the previous week, state data showed.

• The state now reports COVID-related deaths only on Wednesdays. Since the pandemic began, a total of 1,158 Alaskans and 33 nonresidents have died from the virus.

• It was not immediately clear how recently the 28 newly reported deaths had occurred. They included: eight people from Anchorage, four from Palmer, four from Wasilla, two from Soldotna, two from the Prince of Wales and Hyder Census Area, and one each from Seward, Chugiak, Homer, North Pole, the southern Kenai Peninsula, the Mat-Su Borough, the Northwest Arctic Borough and the Southeast Fairbanks Census Area.

• Six of the deaths involved people in their 80s or older, six were in their 70s, 13 were in their 60s, two were in their 50s and one was in his 20s. Nineteen were men and nine were women.

• Alaska’s seven-day new case rate per 100,000 is currently the third-highest in the nation, according to a CDC tracker. Alaska’s omicron wave began and peaked a few weeks behind other states, but has been on a steep downward trajectory in recent weeks.

• The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week eased its guidelines on masks to focus on hospitalization metrics as a measure for when masks are advised. According to the CDC’s updated community risk levels map, most of Alaska is currently “medium” risk, which means many healthy adults may no longer need to wear masks. More info on community levels is available on the agency’s website.

• On Anchorage’s Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, masks as of Tuesday were no longer required for fully immunized personnel, Masks will still be required in health care settings, after a positive test or virus exposure or while exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms, among other exceptions, according to JBER officials. Personnel who aren’t immunized must keep wearing a mask indoors on base.

• As of Wednesday, 63.9% of eligible Alaskans had completed their primary vaccine series.