Alaska on Friday reports 528 cases of COVID-19 over two days

• Alaska on Friday reported 528 cases of COVID-19 over the past two days.

• Alaska reports data on COVID-19 deaths on Wednesdays only. In total, 1,195 COVID-19 deaths among Alaska residents and 33 among nonresidents have been reported since March 2020. Many of the deaths being reported by the state in recent weeks occurred weeks to months earlier.

• Starting next week, the state health department will update the rest of its COVID-19 data also on Wednesdays only instead of updating most dashboards three times a week. The department said that “this change is part of our transition toward longer-term data reporting.”

• Even though cases have declined from an omicron-driven surge this winter, Alaska’s seven-day new case rate per 100,000 people is still the highest in the nation, according to a CDC tracker. State data shows a leveling off of cases over the last three weeks, including an 8% decrease in cases reported last week compared to the week before.

• In Juneau, roughly 10% of the 400 legislators and support staff working at the Capitol have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past few days, temporarily pausing floor sessions and work on the state budget.

• By Friday, there were 35 COVID-positive patients hospitalized statewide — up one from Wednesday. About 2.7% of Alaska’s hospital patients were COVID-positive. One was on a ventilator.

• According to Alaska’s coronavirus variant dashboard, about 45% of the most recently sequenced viruses, from specimens collected in late February, were the BA.2 “stealth” omicron subvariant. BA.2 appears to be more transmissible than other variants but not more virulent, and does not seem to be better at evading immune responses conferred by vaccination or prior infection. Health officials around the world are watching BA.2 closely.

• As of Friday, 64.4% of eligible Alaskans as well as military personnel had completed their primary vaccine series.

• This week, the FDA approved another Pfizer or Moderna booster shot for those 50 and older, as well as for certain younger individuals with severely compromised immune systems, if it’s been at least four months since their last vaccination. Information about getting a vaccine shot or booster in Alaska is available at covidvax.alaska.gov.