Alaska reports 2 deaths from COVID-19, a high number of continued cases in communities across the state

Alaska reported two deaths from COVID-19 and more than 470 new cases on Friday.

According to the Alaska Department of Health and Welfare’s scorecard, there were 125 people hospitalized for the virus across the state, or just over 13 percent of the total hospital population. There were six ICU beds open in Anchorage.

Hospital administrators and providers say they have never seen Alaskan hospitals in operation for a long time due to the combination of common injuries in the summer, people returning for medical care, and an increase in COVID- patients. 19 younger, sicker and unvaccinated people who need more time -consumption of care.

One of the recently reported deaths was recent and involved an Anchorage woman who was about 30 years old. The other involved a man in his eighties or older, who was from a small community in the census area of ​​the Prince of Wales and Hyder and who was the result of a standard revision of death certificates.

As of Friday, the state reported that a total of 406 Alaska and eight non-residents have died with COVID-19.

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The state reported 471 new cases on Friday, a drop from 686 on Thursday. Precautionary tests by health authorities and contact tracking records make daily counts less reliable than before the last case uploads began last month.

Numerous communities reported that double digits continued to be counted, including Fairbanks with 31. Hospital officials at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital reported two new deaths this week. According to hospital spokeswoman Kelly Atlee, the 13 COVID-19 patients, who do not have hospital vaccines, include a baby, a teenager and people between the ages of 30, 40, 50, 60 and 80.

Twenty-two of the new cases came from Juneau, where three COVID-positive patients have died at Bartlett Regional Hospital in the past two weeks and other very serious patients remain hospitalized, local officials said Friday morning. On Friday, the hospital announced it was temporarily suspending some elective surgeries and limiting visitors to two per patient.

Thirty-five new cases came from the Yukon-Kuskokwim region, where tribal health officials reported 97 new cases over a three-day period this week. As of Thursday, there were already 198 cases in the Norton Sound region, including 146 in Stebbins, according to the Norton Sound Health Corp. website. The villages of Stebbins and St. Michael remains closed until new cases are detected for 14 days.

The city of Saint Paul issued an “fall” order earlier this month that extends through August 24 and bans all travel to Saint Paul Island except essential travel and critical personal needs. Only essential companies can remain open and companies, public and private organizations need masks on the premises. A positive case in someone who traveled to the island triggered the order.

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The state reported 72 combined cases in the Mat-Su cities of Palmer and Wasilla on Friday. District school officials are tracking the growing number of COVID-19 cases and say they expect to have to meet masking requirements at some schools.

The Alaska State Fair begins this weekend in Palmer after skipping a year due to the pandemic. This year’s fair lasts 14 days to try to hand out crowds, officials say. Mark Schlereth, a retired NFL player who grew up in Anchorage and went on to play for the Denver Broncos and the Washington football team, is scheduled to join Health Commissioner Adam Crum on Saturday at a vaccination stand state.

Five COVID-positive residents of the pioneer house in Ketchikan died last week, state health officials confirmed Thursday. The cause of death was not provided.

Statewide, 53.7% of eligible residents had been completely vaccinated against the virus, while 59.7% had received the first dose on Friday.

Vaccination rates in Anchorage have doubled almost recently compared to low rates in late June and early July, according to Christy Lawton, municipal director of public health. Vaccination rates a month and a half ago averaged 131 doses a day. Between Aug. 10 and 16, they averaged 255 doses, Lawton said.

Across the state, there has been a 5.9% increase in vaccines over the past week, health officials say.

The average portion of positive tests of all tests performed in the last week was 7.12%.

Daily News journalist Annie Berman contributed.