According to the Alaska COVID-19 Data Hub, updated Wednesday, 19 patients are hospitalized with COVID-19. No patients are on ventilators. This is down from last week, when DOH reported that 22 patients were hospitalized.

According to state data, as of Wednesday, three patients were hospitalized in the Gulf Coast region, which includes the Kenai Peninsula, Kodiak and the Chugach census area. This is up from last week, when two hospitalizations were reported in the area.

The state reported 20 new resident deaths from COVID-19 this week. Deaths are reported in batches, as they are confirmed by the state. The state did not specify a time frame during which those deaths occured, and they are not necessarily recent.

Due to the widespread availability of at-home COVID testing, officials say hospitalization and recent death data is a more effective indicator of the spread of the virus than case counts.

For the period of Oct. 19 to Oct. 25, 371 new COVID-19 cases were reported. Of these, 358 were Alaska residents. Case counts are up from last week, when officials reported 349 new cases for the period of Oct. 12 to Oct. 18.

For the most recent week, 30 cases were reported in the Kenai Peninsula Borough. This is up from 22 last week.

Officials recommend all eligible Alaskans be up to date on their COVID vaccines to minimize the infection’s impact on communities. At this point, anyone 6 months and older is eligible for a primary vaccination series and everyone 5 and up can receive a booster.

An updated bivalent COVID-19 booster vaccine is available in Alaska. These are designed to tackle both the original COVID-19 strain as well as the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of Omicron. At a public health ECHO last week, State Epidemiologist Dr. Joe McLaughlin said that BA.5 is being detected in 96.7% of tested cases in Alaska.

This new booster is available to eligible individuals at least two months after their last shot, whether that was a booster dose or their primary vaccine series.

Boosters are recommended whether or not a person has already contracted the virus.

As of Wednesday, 68.2% of Alaskans have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Only 28.2% have received the first booster. In the Kenai Peninsula Borough, only 23.6% are up to date on their vaccine.

For more information on vaccine eligibility, visit https://dhss.alaska.gov/dph/epi/id/pages/covid-19/vaccineinfo.aspx.

A map of vaccine providers can be found on DOH’s COVID-19 vaccine website at covidvax.alaska.gov.

Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.