An Anchorage woman has died as state health officials identified 78 new cases of COVID-19 among Alaskans and non-residents by Friday.
That brings the total number of cases among Alaskans or people in Alaska to 2,159. Of those, 1,335 are still sick.
The woman who died was in her 50s and had pre-existing conditions according to state health officials. She is the 18th Alaskan to have died with COVID-19.
Of the new cases among residents the majority, 33, are from Anchorage Municipality. There are 9 new cases among residents of Fairbanks, 8 new cases among residents of the Kenai Peninsula Borough, 6 from the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, 2 from the Valdez-Cordova Census Area, 1 from Utquiagvik, 2 from Juneau and 1 from Ketchikan.
Among residents, the majority of active cases in the state — 504 of them — are from the Municipality of Anchorage. But there are also 196 Fairbanks North Star Borough residents and 136 Kenai Peninsula Borough residents with active infections. Resident cases are reported by where they are from which is not necessarily where people are located.
However, nonresident cases are reported by where they are currently located. New nonresident cases have been identified in tourists in Anchorage, a group of seafood workers in Unalaska as well as people in the Denali Borough, the Fairbanks North Star Borough and Juneau.
Cumulatively, among non-residents who are still sick, 68 are in the Bristol Bay and Lake and Peninsula Region, 63 are in Anchorage. There are also hot spots in the Valdez-Cordova Census area, with 32 active non-resident cases and in Fairbanks where 23 people are currently sick.
In other data, hospitals are reporting that 26 people who are currently being treated have either tested positive for COVID-19 or are waiting on test results.
Of those, at least one is in Juneau according to the city’s emergency operations center.
To date, more than 168,000 tests have been performed in the state, however there are reports that the testing lab in Anchorage is operating at half capacity due to a supply issue with one of its machines. It is expected to take longer to get results back in the coming days, though the lab should have that issue resolved by early next week.
Additionally, contact-tracing is strained statewide. Juneau’s Emergency Operations Center reports that the Department of Health and Social Services has begun doing limited contact tracing investigations for people who are low risk.
