Another Alaskan has died as the state report again breaks its record for the highest single-day jump in new COVID-19 infections.
State health officials reported that by Thursday, 60 people had tested positive for the virus. That’s 46 people who are from Alaska and 14 non-residents who are in the state for work or as visitors.
Among residents, Anchorage saw the highest numbers of newly identified infections, with 19 new cases among residents. Fairbanks reported 11 new cases. There are also cases scattered along the Kenai Peninsula, the Valdez-Cordova area, the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, the Nome Census Area. In Southeast Alaska in the Juneau area and in Southwest Alaska in Bethel and the Kusilvak Census Area.
Among residents, case reporting reflects where people are from and not necessarily where they are currently located.
Cases among non-residents are identified by where they are when they test positive. Among those cases are two people in Seward — one is in the tourism industry and it’s not clear why the other is there. Two people are in Fairbanks, it’s also unclear why they are visiting there. Seven new cases are people in the seafood industry in the Bristol Bay and Lake and Peninsula regions — one of those is a visitor in the Dillingham Census Area.
That brings the total number of Alaskans who have tested positive for COVID-19 to 1063, just over half of them have recovered, there are 509 Alaskans who are currently sick. Since the beginning of the pandemic, 223 non-residents have tested positive while in Alaska — it’s not clear how many of them have recovered.
