The number of positive Covid cases in Alaska on Wednesday was 138, a 31 percent decrease from last week.
There were 89 people currently hospitalized for Covid in Alaska on Wednesday, which represents 9.4 percent of all hospitalizations. Just eight people are on ventilators due to Covid effects. These numbers are a fraction of what they were in September, when Alaska saw spiking hospitalizations and when the state was making national news and being criticized for not having stricter lockdown and masking rules. For example, on Sept. 30, Alaska had 1,270 new cases and 203 hospitalizations due to Covid. On Nov. 1, there were 1,547 new cases and 202 hospitalizations.
According to Johns Hopkins University, Alaska has made the coveted list of those states with the lowest rate of positivity, at 4.84 percent.
The World Health Organization advised governments that before reopening, rates of positivity in testing (ie, out of all tests conducted, how many came back positive for Covid-19) should remain below 5% for at least 14 days. Alaska has reached that goal.
For comparison, Florida’s positivity rate is quite low at 2.2%, while Idaho, where the virus is spiking, is over 37%.
Alaska’s own data dashboard has Alaska’s positivity rate higher — at 5.7 percent. And the state dashboard still has nearly the entire state in the “red” zone of high transmissibility.
On the hospital capacity dashboard, nearly all intensive care units in the state are open, with the exception of Providence Medical Center, which is at capacity. All non-ICU units are open.
