Alaska’s Department of Health and Social Services announced 88 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, for a total of 543 new cases identified across the state this week. The majority of new cases — all but 16 this week — occurred among residents, with the communities of Anchorage, Juneau, Fairbanks and the North Slope Borough experiencing the highest numbers of new cases.
The state also saw one additional death and 16 additional hospitalizations associated with COVID-19 this week, for a total of 45 deaths and 261 hospitalizations since the state began tracking the pandemic in March. As of Saturday there were 37 COVID-positive patients requiring hospitalization and another four hospitalized patients suspected of having the disease, according to occupancy data from 22 hospital facilities in the state. There are currently 13 COVID-19 patients requiring treatment on a ventilator, which is the most reported by the state at any one time.
A total of 422,850 COVID-19 tests have been conducted statewide, and 13,868 of those were conducted in the last seven days. The positivity rate for tests processed in the last seven days is 2.24%, an increase from last week’s 1.73% positivity rate.
On the Kenai Peninsula, 983 COVID-19 tests were conducted this week and a total of nine new cases were identified among peninsula residents, the latest being a Seward resident that was identified Saturday. There have been a total of 18,473 COVID-19 tests conducted on the Kenai Peninsula since March.
A total of 58 Alaska residents were reported as having recovered from the disease this week, for a total of 2,226 residents who have contracted the disease and since recovered.
The number of active resident cases is at 4,472 as of Saturday, and the number of active nonresident cases is 719.
Testing locations on the Kenai Peninsula
On the central peninsula, testing is available at Capstone Family Clinic, K-Beach Medical, Soldotna Professional Pharmacy, Central Peninsula Urgent Care, Peninsula Community Health Services, Urgent Care of Soldotna, the Kenai Public Health Center and Odyssey Family Practice. Call Kenai Public Health at 907-335-3400 for information on testing criteria for each location.
In Homer, testing continues to be available from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily at South Peninsula Hospital’s main entrance as well as through SVT Health & Wellness clinics in Homer, Seldovia and Anchor Point. Call ahead at the hospital at 907-235-0235 and at the SVT clinics at 907-226-2228.
In Ninilchik, NTC Community Clinic is providing testing on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The testing is only for those traveling, symptomatic, needing testing for medical procedures, or with a known exposure after seven days. Only 20 tests will be offered per day. To make an appointment to be tested at the NTC Community Clinic, call 907-567-3970.
In Seward, testing is available at Providence Seward, Seward Community Health Center, Glacier Family Medicine and North Star Health Clinic.
This article is based on data reported by state and local agencies between Sept. 12 and Sept. 19.
Reach reporter Brian Mazurek at bmazurek@peninsulaclarion.com
