Since last week, the number of Covid-19 cases being diagnosed in Alaska has dropped by over 31 percent.
According to the State of Alaska’s data dashboard, 409 cases were reported yesterday, while on Friday the case count was over 1,000.
113,037 Alaskans have been diagnosed with Covid-19 since the virus came to the state in March of 2020. 558 deaths have been attributed to Covid-19. Less than 1/2 of a percent of Alaskans who have been diagnosed with Covid have died due to the illness, which is serious and sometimes debilitating.
For several days in a row, case counts were rising in Alaska, causing hospitals to sound the alarm. But statistically, with 373,169 Alaskans fully vaccinated and the 113,037 who have had the virus, fully 71 percent of Alaskans have some type of natural immunity or vaccine protection. It makes it unlikely there could be an ongoing new-case count of over 1,000 a day for much longer; after a while, the virus would run out of people to infect.
The Anchorage Assembly public hearing continues on Monday from 5-10 pm at the Loussac Library. The topic of the hearing is Assemblywoman Meg Zaletel’s ordinance requiring all people in Anchorage over the age of 2 to wear a face covering that obstructs their nose and mouth. Face shields would not be allowed under the new ordinance that would put into law what Mayor Dave Bronson has said is government overreach.
Although it’s clear he would veto the ordinance, the Assembly’s leftist majority has the votes to override his veto.
The ordinance has caused a deep divide in the community, and has shattered the trust between Anchorage residents and Providence Alaska Medical Center, which came out in support of the ordinance, while continuing to schedule full days of elective surgeries at the hospital and complaining to the New York Times that it doesn’t have enough beds.
Hundreds of Anchorage residents have attended the Assembly hearings on the ordinance since they began last week with a pre-planted group of doctors and nurses showing up at the Loussac Library to support the ordinance. Since then, the testimony has been overwhelmingly against it.
The maker of the ordinance, Assemblywoman Zaletel, has refused to show up at meetings until everyone is masked, and therefore has only observed the proceedings from the comfort of her home. She is the subject of a recall election this month for voters who are in Midtown Anchorage, from Rogers Park south to Abbott Road and west to portions of Spenard.
