The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services announced 116 new positive cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday — three of which are on the Kenai Peninsula.

DHSS also reported one new death of an Alaska resident tied to the novel coronavirus, bringing the total to 59. The person who died was not a peninsula resident.

All 116 cases are among Alaska residents; the state reported no new cases among nonresidents on Wednesday. This marked the 14th day in a row that Alaska has had a daily case count of more than 100 new cases. The case count for Wednesday does not include a positive COVID-19 case that was identified in a member of the Homer High School football program on Tuesday.

The three new cases on the Kenai Peninsula announced Wednesday are all in Seward. The last time a new positive COVID-19 case was identified on the DHSS coronavirus data hub in a Homer resident was Sept. 30.

In Homer, COVID-19 testing provided by South Peninsula Hospital has been moved to the lower level of the South Peninsula Hospital Specialty Clinic, at 4201 Bartlett Street. Free tests for those who qualify will be available daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Homer has now had a cumulative total of 76 COVID-19 cases. Of those, only 17 are still active. Anchor Point has had a total of six cases reported in residents there, with two of them still active. Fritz Creek no longer has any active cases among residents there. The “Other South” category used by DHSS to describe communities on the southern peninsula with populations of less than 1,000 has had a total of 32 COVID-19 cases. Of those, nine are still active.

Alaska now has a had a total of 8,878 COVID-19 cases among residents, and 983 cases among nonresidents.

So far, 5,003 Alaska residents are recovered or presumed recovered, as are 623 nonresidents. There are still 3,816 active resident cases and 360 active nonresident cases.

There have been a total of 310 hospitalizations of Alaska residents for confirmed cases of COVID-19, and six nonresidents have been hospitalized.

On Wednesday, the state’s coronavirus response hub data showed there are 34 people currently being hospitalized for confirmed cases of the illness, along with 12 people being hospitalized for suspected cases.

To date, the state has performed 490,074 COVID-19 tests, and had a seven-day average positivity rate of 4.28% as of Tuesday, according to the data hub.

Of the new cases announced Wednesday, there are 56 in Anchorage, 28 in Fairbanks, 12 in the Nome Census Area, five in North Pole, three in Seward, two each in Chugiak, Kotzebue and Juneau, and one each in Eagle River, Healy, the Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Big Lake, the Northwest Arctic Borough and Bethel.

Also on Wednesday, South Peninsula Hospital announced three new positive test results. There have been only two new cases of COVID-19 reported on the southern peninsula (from Ninilchik south) in the last 14 days. Anyone can get a COVID-19 test at the hospital, not only Homer area residents.

There also can be a lag between when the hospital reports positive cases and when the state reports that information. The state reports cases daily at noon, and those reports reflect the number of cases that got reported to the state the day before. The hospital gets confirmation of positive cases in real time, that is, when the state lab confirms test results, according to SPH Public Information Officer Derotha Ferraro.

To date, South Peninsula Hospital has performed 9,852 tests, with 9,555 of them coming back negative. There are 177 tests still pending.

Testing locations on the Kenai Peninsula:

Free COVID-19 tests are offered 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. seven days a week at the lower level of the South Peninsula Hospital Specialty Clinic, at 4201 Bartlett Street, Homer. Please use the Danview Avenue access. Tests are for those who have had recent travel out of state, have been exposed to someone with a confirmed case of COVID-19, have new onset of any symptom related to COVID-19, or have a provider referral. See the complete list of eligible individuals at www.sphosp.org or call the COVID information line at 235-0235. Please call and pre-register before coming if and when possible.

Testing is also available through the SVT Health & Wellness clinics in Homer, Seldovia and Anchor Point. Call ahead at 907-226-2228.

In Ninilchik, NTC Community Clinic is providing testing on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The testing is only for those traveling, symptomatic, needing testing for medical procedures, or with a known exposure after seven days. Only 20 tests will be offered per day. To make an appointment to be tested at the NTC Community Clinic, call 907-567-3970.

On the central peninsula, testing is available at Capstone Family Clinic, K-Beach Medical, Soldotna Professional Pharmacy, Central Peninsula Urgent Care, Peninsula Community Health Services, Urgent Care of Soldotna, the Kenai Public Health Center and Odyssey Family Practice. Call Kenai Public Health at 907-335-3400 for information on testing criteria for each location.

In Seward, testing is available at Providence Seward, Seward Community Health Center, Glacier Family Medicine and North Star Health Clinic.

Reach Megan Pacer at mpacer@homernews.com.

Signs direct people where to register at South Peninsula Hospital’s new COVID-19 testing site at 4201 Bartlett Street, the lower level of the hospital’s specialty clinic, as seen here on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2020 in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Megan Pacer/Homer News)

A sign directs people how to get a COVID-19 test once they part at South Peninsula Hospital’s new testing site at 4201 Bartlett Street, the lower level of the hospital’s specialty clinic, as seen on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2020 in Homer, Alaska. It’s a self-swab site where people perform their own tests, but nurses are on hand to greet people at their vehicles if they are unable to walk up to the testing windows. (Photo by Megan Pacer/Homer News)