Alaska COVID-19 hospitalizations are on the rise again and further strain the ICU space

Alaska reported another record of hospitalizations in people with COVID-19 over the weekend amid a continuous rise related to the highly infectious delta variant responsible for most cases in the state.

Fairbanks Memorial Hospital also reported two new deaths in people with the virus over the weekend, amid a high number of COVID-19 cases reported in the Fairbanks and North Pole communities, including 175 cases reported only on Friday.

A combination of staff shortages, high admissions, and a large number of patients with COVID-19 is pushing state hospitals to the brink of what the system can manage and still offer care, according to medical providers and those responsible for health.

[Alaska’s COVID-19 hospitalizations are at pandemic highs. Here’s what that number really reflects.]

State data released Monday showed 210 COVID-positive patients hospitalized statewide as of Sunday, more than half of them in Anchorage. That’s a bit of the record set on Thursday 208. Virus-related hospitalizations have risen more than 1,200% since late June, when there were barely two dozen COVID-positive patients at a time.

As of Monday, Anchorage Township reported that there were no intensive care beds available in the city, although that data may change quickly.

Some ICU nurses care for twice the number of patients they usually do, health officials said late last week: instead of one nurse for two patients, many care for three or four.

Fairbanks Memorial Hospital last week began setting up three meeting rooms to care for patients as an “emergency response to a massive increase in COVID and a critical shortage of staff,” according to an email from the spokeswoman. ‘hospital, Kelly Atlee. Lodged patients are likely to need less intensive care. The hospital has also moved a day room inside a nursing unit to accommodate five beds.

The hospital cannot use the Carlson Center arena for alternative care because Alaska has no active emergency statement authorizing such use. The center’s staff would have been a challenge independently, Atlee said.

“This space will be used in the event that we essentially run out of space to provide care,” he wrote.

Most hospitalized COVID-19 patients are not vaccinated, according to statistics. During the last week of August, 81% of hospitalized patients with COVID-positive and 85% of patients in the ICU were not vaccinated, according to the Askaka State Hospital and Nursing Home Association. Seventeen of 18 COVID-19 patients with ventilators were not vaccinated.

As of Monday, 61.8% of eligible Alaska had received at least one dose of vaccine and 56.5% were fully vaccinated, according to state data. After assuming the most vaccinated state title earlier this year, Alaska on Monday ranked 35th per capita.

The state reported a total of 1,431 new cases in Alaska over the three-day period over the weekend, including Friday 784, according to the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services board.

The state scorecard does not yet reflect the new Fairbanks deaths; did not report any new deaths as of Monday. As of March 2020, 445 Alaska and 14 out-of-state residents have died with COVID-19.

Other regions also see a higher number of infections, including those on the northern slope and the Mat-Su communities of Wasilla and Palmer, which accounted for a quarter (90 of 370) of the cases reported on Saturday, according to state data.

State officials say the continuity of the number of new cases is leading to delays in testing and contact tracking, both strategies used to limit the spread of the virus.

As of Monday, the state’s seven-day average positivity rate (the number of positive tests out of the total conducted) was 9.25%, a record almost since the pandemic began. Health officials say anything above 5% indicates the need for more testing.