Another Alaskan has died from COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services announced in a press release on March 29.
The latest death is a 73-year-old Anchorage resident who was tested on March 23, admitted to an Anchorage hospital, and died on the evening of March 28. That person is the second Alaskan to die in state and the third Alaska resident to die. The first Alaskan resident to die had been traveling in Washington state and died in a King County hospital on March 16.
As of March 29, seven people have been hospitalized for the disease.
Also on Sunday, DHSS announced 12 new confirmed cases of COVID-19: four in Anchorage, one in Eagle River, four in Fairbanks, one in North Pole, one in Juneau and one in Ketchikan.
Five of the new cases are older adults over 60, two are adults aged 30-59, four are younger adults aged 19-29, and one is under 18. Six are female and six are male. Six of the cases are close contacts of previously diagnosed cases; one is travel-related and five are still under investigation.
So far the communities in Alaska that have had laboratory-confirmed cases are Anchorage (including Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson), Eagle River/Chugiak, Girdwood, Fairbanks, North Pole, Homer, Juneau, Ketchikan, Palmer, Seward, Soldotna and Sterling.
There are now 114 total confirmed cases for Alaska. The breakdown by community is: Anchorage and JBER with 53, Fairbanks with 20, Ketchikan with 13, North Pole with eight, Eagle River/Chugiak with five, Juneau with five, Palmer, Sterling, and Soldotna each with two cases, and Girdwood and Seward each with one case. There is one confirmed case in Homer and one confirmed case of a Homer resident who was tested and isolated in Anchorage.
As of March 28, 3,654 people had been tested for COVID-19 in Alaska.
Nationally, 122,653 people in the United States have tested positive for the virus, with 2,112 deaths. Cases have been reported in all 50 states and U.S. jurisdictions, including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, Northern Marianas, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
For more information on the Alaska response, visit these websites:
• Find more information about how to keep yourself and your family healthy at the DHSS webpage, coronavirus.alaska.gov
• Visit the governor’s webpage on COVID-19 at gov.alaska.gov/covid19news
• Visit ready.alaska.gov/covid19 on the Division of Homeland Security & Emergency Management webpage for Unified Command information, community press releases and other documents.
Reach Michael Armstrong at marmstrong@homernews.com.
