State health officials reported 745 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday in Alaska residents and non-resident visitors to the state. This is a new high number of cases reported for one day in Alaska, and a significant jump of the previous high, reported last weekend.
On Sunday, Alaska reported its second-highest daily case count with 654 new cases reported. Twelve are nonresidents and the rest are residents of the state.
These numbers represent up to a 50% underestimate of the true count since state health officials say they don’t have enough personnel to process all of the data.
Alaska Public Media and KTOO talked to officials from seven hospitals across the state this week and all expressed concern about the state’s health care system’s ability to handle the skyrocketing number of COVID-19 cases.
And an increasing number of hospital workers are out sick or quarantining. At the same time, more patients with coronavirus are filling hospital beds. On Saturday, between suspected and confirmed patients with the virus, 106 people were in the hospital with COVID-19 infections. On Sunday, that number was 141.
It’s estimated that 1 in 10 patients in Alaska’s hospitals have COVID-19.
The majority of the cases reported over the weekend are Anchorage residents. Providence Alaska Medical Center, which is the state’s largest hospital, said on Friday that in response to the recent rise in cases, it has acquired a refrigerated trailer to be used as a temporary morgue, if needed.
The City and Borough of Juneau reported 14 new cases on Friday, including a small cluster of infections in students living in a University of Alaska Southeast residence hall. All residents of the hall were tested after two students tested positive earlier in the week, resulting in six total cases. According to a press release from the university, those students have been isolated.
This story has been updated with additional reporting by Alaska Public Media’s Lex Treinen.
