Daily COVID-19 cases across Alaska over the past 30 days are about triple the average of the 18-month pandemic — more than quadruple on several days last week.
The heavy caseload, particularly seriously ill unvaccinated individuals infected with the highly contagious Delta variant, has strained hospitals in the state’s population centers.
Wrangell has fared better than much of the state, however, with just five cases reported in the first 14 days of September, a steep drop from the community’s record of 48 cases in August.
State health officials Tuesday reported 676 new infections across Alaska, down from more than 800 on each of several days last week. The daily count has averaged under 200 since the tally started about 18 months ago, with low infection numbers February through June this year bringing down the average.
As of Tuesday, the state reported at least 202 people hospitalized due to COVID-19, down slightly from Monday’s record 210. And it was another day when all of the adult intensive-care beds in Anchorage hospitals were full, according to the state COVID-19 website.
Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage announced Tuesday it had started to ration care. “We are no longer able to provide the standard of care to each and every patient who needs our help,” the hospital’s chief of staff said in a letter addressed to “fellow Alaskans.”
The overwhelming caseload means the hospital must “prioritize scarce resources and treatments to those patients who have the potential to benefit most,” the letter said.
The hospital reported Tuesday that more than 30% of its adult patients were COVID-19 positive.
The Anchorage Daily News reported Tuesday that Fairbanks Memorial Hospital began reconfiguring three meeting rooms for patient care last week as an “emergency response to a massive COVID surge and critical staffing shortages,” according to hospital spokesperson Kelly Atlee.
Patients housed in the converted rooms would most likely require less-intensive care, Atlee said.
After hospitalizations across the state stayed low from February through July — at just 25% the daily level of the recent surge — Alaska now is among the nation’s leaders.
Alaska was among the top five states nationwide for an increase in hospitalizations last week, Sen. Lisa Murkowski told the Southeast Conference at its annual summer meeting in Haines on Tuesday. “That is not where we want to be,” the state’s senior senator said.
Alaska is among the bottom third nationwide for vaccination rates, after being among the leaders earlier this year.
Murkowski told the gathering of municipal and chamber of commerce officials that a higher vaccination rate would be good for tourism, especially as Southeast looks to rebuild its economy next year. “It sends the message that we’re safe and we want you to come.”
The Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association reported that of those hospitalized the last week of August, 81% were unvaccinated.
The vaccination rate among eligible Alaskans for at least their first shot was at 61.9% on Tuesday, barely moving in recent weeks. The rate in Wrangell remains at 65%.
As Wrangell gets past its August spike in cases, the rate of positive test results also is dropping. The state website reported Tuesday that just 2% of COVID-19 tests administered in Wrangell over the past seven days had come back positive. The Kenai Peninsula Borough, at a 14% positive result, the Fairbanks North Star Borough, at 15%, and the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, at 17%, were the state leaders.
To help stem rising infection rates, Fairbanks schools last week shifted to universal masking, after starting the semester without mandatory face masks. The new requirement will remain through the semester.
Though they have taken other mitigation steps, the Matanuska-Susitna and Kenai Peninsula districts continue to operate without mandatory face masks.
Absenteeism rates among Mat-Su students and school staff last week were nearly 25%, the district said.
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