Cases of COVID-19 reported by the State Department of Health have fallen in Alaska for the first time since the start of December, while cases of the flu and respiratory syncytial virus have remained broadly low and steady in the same window, according to the Department’s Respiratory Virus Snapshot.
Since December, the weekly number of COVID-19 cases reported by the department climbed from 196 per week to a high of 715 the week ending Jan. 6. The most recent week’s data, updated Thursday to include the week ending Jan. 13, saw 599.
Cases of the flu, statewide, have held around 100 per week since Dec. 16. RSV cases were reported around 100 per week for most of December, more recently declining to 70 the week ending Jan. 13.
While a COVID spike has been observed state- and nationwide for much of December and January, the same rise hasn’t been so sharp on the Kenai Peninsula, where the case rate — the number of cases per 100,000 residents — climbed significantly over the numbers seen in November but didn’t reach the highs seen in the summer of 2023.
The Kenai Peninsula Borough’s case rate was reported at 40.7 on Dec. 30 — when Anchorage was reporting 84.1 — and has since declined to 30.5 as of Jan. 13.
The snapshot also includes regional breakdowns for influenza and RSV.
The regional data for RSV indicates that several weeks of this respiratory virus season passed without any cases reported on the Kenai Peninsula, though a low-level activity has been reported consistently since the start of December. As of Jan. 13, the case rate is reported at 15.3 — far below case rates reported in areas like Juneau, which in December saw a high of 59.3.
The flu rate in the borough rose as high as 52.6 in November but so far this year has remained low. Local counts aren’t anywhere close to the highs of 168.2 or 261.8 seen in Anchorage and the Northwest respectively this season. The local number has been increasing week over week consistently since Dec. 16, but as of Jan. 13 was reported at 17.
This downward momentum in COVID activity in the state comes at the same time as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are reporting a decline in hospital admissions attributed to COVID-19 nationwide — but deaths from COVID-19 are still trending upward as of Jan. 13.
For more information about COVID-19, influenza or RSV in Alaska, visit health.alaska.gov.
Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.
