Alaska’s Department of Health and Social Services reported 50 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday — 46 among residents and four nonresidents, and none of them on the peninsula.
The DHSS coronavirus response hub website was not updated with Wednesday’s numbers in time for the Homer News print deadline.
The last case announced in Homer was on Sept. 21. The last positive case announced through testing at South Peninsula Hospital was on Sept. 17. Before that, the hospital had not had a positive test result in four weeks. SPH is not the only testing facility on the southern peninsula — other clinics had a few positive tests during that time.
As of Tuesday, a cumulative total of 75 positive cases have been identified in Homer to date. Of those, 39 are recovered and 36 are still active.
Anchor Point had a total of nine positive cases as of Tuesday, with one one still active. Fritz Creek has had a total of four positive cases, with only one of them still positive. The “Other South” category used for communities Ninilchik and south with populations of less than 1,000 people has had a total of 32 positive cases, as of Tuesday. Of those, only nine are still active.
The 46 resident cases announced Tuesday were identified in Anchorage (31), Eagle River (one), Kodiak (one), Fairbanks (three), Palmer (one), Wasilla (three), Kotzebue (one), the Northwest Arctic Borough (four) and the Aleutians West Census Area (one).
All four of the nonresident cases were identified in Anchorage. One of the cases is related to tourism, and the other three are still under investigation.
Two previously reported resident cases have been removed from Alaska’s Coronavirus Data Dashboard through the data verification process, which puts the statewide totals at 6,950 resident cases and 936 nonresident cases. A total of 4,490 resident cases are active, while 2,415 residents have recovered and 45 have died. No new deaths were reported Tuesday.
One new hospitalization associated with COVID-19 was reported Tuesday, for a total of 266 hospitalizations since the state began tracking the pandemic in March. This number includes people who have died as well as people who have recovered and since gone home. Currently there are 39 COVID-19 patients hospitalized across 23 facilities in Alaska, as well as another four patients hospitalized under investigation for the disease. Fourteen COVID-19 patients require treatment on ventilators at this time.
A total of 431,191 COVID-19 tests have been conducted statewide. The positivity rate of test results processed in the last seven days is 2.28%. Locally, 18,628 tests have been conducted on the Kenai Peninsula, and the seven-day positivity rate for the region is 1%.
Central Peninsula Hospital has conducted 5,404 tests as of Tuesday, with 120 positive results, 5,224 negative results and 56 pending results.
Locally, South Peninsula Hospital had conducted a total of 8,995 COVID-19 tests as of Wednesday, according to hospital Public Information Officer Derotha Ferraro. Of those, 8,708 have come back negative, and 173 are pending. The hospital has had a total of 114 positive test results.
According to data last updated on Sept. 18, the NTC Community Clinic in Ninilchik has had a total of 53 positive test results, out of a total of 1,875 tests performed. SVT Health & Wellness, which has clinics in Seldovia, Anchor Point and Homer, has had a total of 11 positive test results according to data updated on Tuesday. SVT has conducted a total of 725 tests, with 713 of them coming back negative and one test still pending.
Testing
In Homer, testing continues to be available from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily at South Peninsula Hospital’s main entrance as well as through SVT Health & Wellness clinics in Homer, Seldovia and Anchor Point. Call ahead at the hospital at 907-235-0235 and at the SVT clinics 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 Brian Mazurek at bmazurek@peninsulaclarion.com. Megan Pacer contributed to this article. Reach her at mpacer@homernews.com.
