Alaska on Wednesday recorded a jump in COVID-19 hospitalizations and 1,239 new infections.
The state Department of Health and Social Services said 204 people are now hospitalized with COVID-19, an increase of 18 patients from a day ago. That’s still below Alaska’s COVID hospitalizations record set in September, with 223 COVID patients hospitalized.
The state on Wednesday reported no new deaths linked to the virus.
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Wednesday’s case numbers were more than twice as high as Tuesday’s, but Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anne Zink said the rise is a result of how tests are recorded. Speaking at an online public forum on Wednesday afternoon, Zink said that the jump happened because a new batch of tests was included in Wednesday’s numbers.
“Overall, we’ve been kind of plateauing with a slight decrease,” said Zink.
The 1,239 new cases include 1,220 Alaskans and the rest nonresidents who tested positive in the state.
Daily case counts reached above 1,700 at the end of September. Alaska still leads the country in its seven-day case rate, according to data compiled by the New York Times.
Lex Treinen is covering the state Legislature for Alaska Public Media. Reach him at ltreinen@gmail.com.
