On Tuesday, 54 new coronavirus infections were reported in Alaska, with five new hospitalizations.
Since the pandemic began in March, there have been 1,899 cases of the virus identified in the state. After daily single-digit case counts for most of May, counts began to rise rapidly in June after the state eased pandemic restrictions on companies and individuals.
At a community briefing on Monday, Governor Mike Dunleavy encouraged Alaska residents to continue taking the virus seriously, but said he had no plans to impose further restrictions or mandates at the state level.
“We will do whatever it takes to make sure that our hospital capacity remains intact and that we do everything we can to protect the most vulnerable,” he said, “but we will need your help.”
Dunleavy said that while the recent surge in new cases is “troubling,” Alaska continues to have some of the lowest hospitalization and death rates in the country.
This is in part because young people in their 20s and 30s account for a large percentage of new cases, said Dr. Joe McLaughlin, the state epidemiologist.
While unable to identify a single reason for this trend, he said, young adults “may be less compliant with virus prevention, such as social distancing and wearing masks,” and may also be more likely to congregate in meetings where social distancing can be difficult.
They may also be more likely to physically go to work than other age groups, McLaughlin said, increasing the chances of transmission.
The good news is that youth are less likely to be hospitalized or die from COVID-19, he said.
“But the concern with this is that the virus is becoming widespread, which can lead to a higher exposure rate for vulnerable populations,” explained McLaughlin.
Alaska residents under age 40 accounted for almost 56% of the state’s 1,579 resident cases on Monday.
Five new hospitalizations were reported Tuesday, for a total of 92 people sick enough to require hospital care since the pandemic began.
And while the number of hospitalizations has remained relatively low compared to other places, in the past week, more people with COVID-19 symptoms have turned up in emergency rooms in Anchorage and Fairbanks, several hospitals reported this week.
In other states, the increase in emergency room visits has signaled an increase in hospitalizations.
Of the 1,899 people who have tested positive for the virus since March, 1,153 are considered active cases and 729 have recovered.
Seventeen Alaska residents with COVID-19 have died, including several residents who died out of state.
The state has completed a total of 149,473 tests as of Tuesday, with an average positive rate of 1.72% in the past three days.
It was not immediately clear how many of the newly identified cases were symptomatic.
Of the new resident cases, nearly half – 18 – were in people from Anchorage. There were also seven out-of-state people with new confirmed cases of the virus in Anchorage.
In a statement Monday, Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz noted the city’s search-for-contacts capacity, which has been depleted in recent weeks, as cases in the city increase. Tracking contacts helps contain the virus by identifying who may have the disease and where it is spreading.
Berkowitz also said the city needed to “defend our hospital capacity” and asked Anchorage residents to keep their physical distance, keep social bubbles small, wear masks, and wash their hands.
“Flattening the curve is how we stop the increase in cases,” Berkowitz said. “And, as we’ve seen in so many other states, it’s what we need to do to avoid having to start closing things.”
In the Matanuska-Susitna district, six Wasilla residents tested positive for the disease on Monday, as did a person from Palmer.
In the Kenai Peninsula district, there were new cases in five Soldotna residents, one in a Sterling resident and a non-resident of a smaller community in the northern part of the district. There were also two new cases of the disease in residents of the Valdez-Córdoba census area.
Fairbanks, which has seen a recent increase in cases, saw five new cases among residents reported Monday.
There was also one case each reported in a Juneau resident and a smaller community within the Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area.
Other nonresident cases included one in Petersburg and two in the Bristol Bay and Lake & Peninsula districts, as well as three in unknown parts of the state.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.