A total of 111 new cases of COVID-19 were reported by Alaska’s Department of Health and Social Services Tuesday, with eight of those cases located on the Kenai Peninsula.

Of the new cases, 92 are residents and 17 are nonresidents. There were also five new hospitalizations reported Tuesday. A total of 105 people in the state have been hospitalized while positive for COVID-19. Currently, there are 32 people hospitalized who are either COVID-positive or are awaiting test results. One of those patients is being treated on a ventilator. There have been a total of 18 deaths of Alaska residents associated with COVID-19. No new deaths were reported Tuesday.

On the Kenai Peninsula, resident cases were identified in Soldotna (three), Homer (two), Kenai (one) and Seward (one). A nonresident case was also identified as a worker in an unknown industry in Soldotna.

There are now 171 active cases of COVID-19 on the Kenai Peninsula and 1,645 active cases statewide. A total of 25 new recoveries were recorded yesterday. Since the state began tracking the pandemic, 737 residents have recovered from the illness.

Statewide, a total of 178,626 tests for COVID-19 had been conducted as of Tuesday. The average positivity rate for tests conducted in the last three days is 2.3%. The overall positivity rate for Alaska is 1.41%.

Locally, South Peninsula Hospital had conducted 5,614 tests as of Tuesday, according to public information officer Derotha Ferraro. Of those, 5414 have come back negative, 89 have come back positive and 111 are pending results.

Testing on the Kenai Peninsula

On Thursday, July 23 from noon to 6 p.m., free COVID-19 testing will be available on the Homer Spit at the Boat House Pavilion. Only certain people are eligible for this testing: People who are working in the fishing industry or an area of critical infrastructure, people who have recently traveled out of state, people who have had known exposure to a confirmed case of COVID-19, anyone with new onset of COVID-19 symptoms or ferry passengers with a long-distance voyage scheduled in the next five days.

Test results will be available within four to five days and will be found on the hospital’s patient portal. No appointments are necessary, but people will be asked to provide a driver’s license or state identification, email address, Social Security number and phone number.

Testing is also available at South Peninsula Hospital’s main entrance at 4300 Bartlett Street from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. For more information, call 907-235-0235 or visit sphosp.org. The other testing locations available on the southern peninsula are the SVT Health and Wellness clinics in Homer, Seldovia and Anchor Point, and the NTC Community Clinic in Ninilchik.

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.

In Seward, testing is available at Seward Community Health Center, Glacier Family Medicine and the Chugachmiut-North Star Health Clinic.

Call Kenai Public Health at 907-335-3400 for information on testing criteria for each location.

For more information on the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, visit covid19.alaska.gov or email covidquestions@alaska.gov.

Reach reporter Brian Mazurek at bmazurek@peninsulaclarion.com.