For the first time since July 2021, there were no patients with Covid-19 at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital on Wednesday morning. According to Foundation Health Partners Spokesperson Kelly Atlee, before Wednesday the last time FMH went a day without a Covid patient was July 16.
Alaska experienced two Covid surges since July, the first due to the severe Delta variant and the second due to the less deadly but highly contagious Omicron. Since the peak of the latest wave, cases in Alaska have been slowly declining for a few months.
The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services on Wednesday reported 545 new resident cases. This includes 218 from Monday and 327 on Tuesday. In Fairbanks, there were 33 new cases total.
Cases in Alaska decreased by 26% last week, but much of the state remains on high alert for virus transmission. Since Alaska hit its Omicron peak after the majority of the United States, the state continues to have one of the highest case rates in the nation. And, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anne Zink noted, although cases continue to decline, they are decreasing at a slower rate.
Hospitalizations
As of Wednesday, there were 77 people hospitalized with Covid across the state. This puts the hospitalization rate at just 4.7%, which is a significant drop from the start of the year.
In February, there were 44 people hospitalized with Covid in Interior Alaska, according to information compiled by the Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association. Of these patients, 30 were hospitalized due to the virus, while 14 tested positive but were being treated for other reasons.
Deaths
The state on Wednesday reported 28 deaths. DHSS moved to reporting deaths once a week, but it is unclear when the majority of the deaths occurred. The majority of the deaths were in Southcentral Alaska. There were no deaths among Fairbanks residents, but one of a North Pole resident (a man in his 50s) and one of a man in the Southeast Fairbanks Census area.
Vaccines
Although there is less virus circulating, health officials continue to recommend vaccines and booster shots as the most effective way to prevent both infection and serious illness. In the data from Interior Alaska, 18 of the hospitalized patients were vaccinated, while 26 were not. Similarly, of the six deaths Covid deaths in Interior Alaska last month, five of the fatalities were of unvaccinated people.
According to the DHSS dashboard, 66% of Alaskans have received at least one dose of the vaccine and 59.6% completed the primary vaccine series. Zink said Wednesday the state recently moved from 35th to 28th in the nation for percentage of the population that has started the vaccine series. In the Fairbanks North Star Borough, 50.9% of residents are fully vaccinated.
Alaskans ages 12 and older who are moderately to severely immunocompromised should receive a fourth shot, according to recent guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Contact reporter Maisie Thomas at 907-459-7544 or [email protected].
