Alaska now highest in the nation for COVID cases

Alaska became the state with the highest rate of COVID-19 cases in the nation per 100,000 residents on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, Gov. Mike Dunleavy called a press conference.

“We are on top of this. We’ve always been on top of this,” said Dunleavy.

Department of Health and Social Services Commissioner Adam Crum reported that he had signed an addendum to Public Health Emergency Order 1 which was signed under HB 76 on April 30, 2020. The addendum assists health care providers with access to committees to provide strategies for alternate tools to provide care, according to Crum. Public Health Director Heidi Hedberg detailed a trio of new measures to assist public health and Alaska’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anne Zink gave an emotional plea to Alaskans as Dunleavy reiterated numerous times that he wished that the pandemic would not be so thoroughly politicized.

“When we look at our hospital capacity and we look at our number of hospitalizations, we see more people in Alaska being hospitalized right now than we’ve ever seen before in the pandemic,” said Zink.

“We continue to promote the health and well being of Alaskans and do like we’ve said since the beginning and flatten that curve, but right now our cases and our hospitalizations are past that curve of hospital capacity. The strain on our hospital systems is impacting not only people with COVID-19 but people who are there because of a stroke or heart attack or a kid who falls off their bike.”

Alaska achieved a new single-day record for most resident cases with 1,224. There were also 27 new nonresident cases reported and 200 people are hospitalized statewide with 34 people on ventilators and just 21 Intensive Care Unit beds available across the state.

“90 % of both our national and local hospitalizations in the ICU are because of unvaccinated individuals and we continue to encourage all Alaskans to consider getting vaccinated as soon as possible,” said Zink. “It’s always important to take care of your health — your physical health as well as your mental health and make sure you’re not vitamin deficient. But please, don’t be distracted by other treatment options such as ivermectin that has not shown benefit for COVID-19 at this time and ensure that you’re getting treatment that may really help you keep out of the hospital such as monoclonal antibodies.”

Of the patients who are vaccinated and unvaccinated that test positive for COVID-19 and require hospitalization, Zink said that the average unvaccinated patient is 15 years younger than vaccinated patients. Zink began by thanking health care providers who have been physically threatened and violently attacked in attempting to care for patients, thanked public health employees and thanked members of the public themselves.

“There’s active misinformation campaigns about health and about misinformation about treatment options, so please speak to your health care provider if you have questions. Health care providers who care for COVID patients are overwhelmingly — greater than 96 % in one survey — vaccinated against COVID-19. When you see this illness up front, you never want to get it and I encourage every Alaskan 12 and above to get vaccinated,” said Zink. “Alaska, this is our time for us to pull together, we are under siege from a virus. You may not see it, you may not feel it, and I hope and pray that you will not experience it, however delta is different and delta is deadly. It’s widespread in Alaska. It’s eight times our elevated level. It’s crippling our health care systems, it’s impacting our care from everything from heart attacks to strokes to our children if they get in a bike accident. This COVID storm is now impacting all Alakans, but we have tools. Get vaccinated, wear your mask in indoor spaces, get tested, keep your circle small, seek treatment early if you’re sick, take care of your physical and mental health and take care of each other.”

There have now been over 100,000 positive cases among Alaska residents since the beginning of the pandemic and 20.5 % of all hospitalized persons are hospitalized with COVID. The percent positivity continues to rise and currently stands at 9.6 %. While 58 % of Alaskans are fully vaccinated, 27,819 are awaiting their second dose.

The Mat-Su reported their second highest daily case count ever with 286 reported on Wednesday and an additional four nonresident cases reported. There are 33 people hospitalized at Mat-Su Regional Medical Center with COVID-19 and seven patients on ventilators, with just one ICU bed available.

At the press conference Wednesday, Crum detailed the assistance offered to healthcare workers from the addendum.

“We are lower in staff and workforce for our health care side than we were at this point in time last year,” said Crum. “This overall disease burden is what is putting this increased pressure across the system as a whole and we want to make sure that Alaskans always have access to a very high level of care, but for health care providers if they’re not able to provide this gold standard of care, it actually hurts them. This is their training, this is what they want to provide is the best level possible.”

Hedberg announced that Alaska was the second state in region 10 to submit an RFP for additional healthcare workers to the General Services Administration and would be receiving 470 health care professionals from DLH solutions, a joint commission accredited organization. The slow rollout of additional health care workers will begin on September 27 with an initial 90-day contract that may be extended for 30 days up to three times. The $87 million cost for the additional workers is entirely FEMA reimbursable, according to Hedberg.

“A lot of the nurses are actually leaving retirement, they are enticed by coming to Alaska and working short term. The pay and travel stipends are motivators and there are flexible hours up to 60 hours per week and they also had commented across the U.S. that as other regions are on the downward trend, it’s easing up the burden in those areas and those contracted health care workers are able to mobilize from that region up to Alaska,” said Hedberg.

Hedberg also said that the requirement for Certified Nursing Assistants had been reduced from 140 days to the Federal standard of 75 days and additional marketing and recruitment funds were being offered to CNA’s. Additionally, Emergency Medical Services staff with Mobile Integrated Healthcare in the five largest urban areas of the state will receive assistance on both the front end and back end to decompress hospitals. EMS staff will be able to treat patients in place with telemedicine, treat patients and transfer to other healthcare facilities and travel to patients homes and treat them. Hedberg also announced $2 million in at-home testing kits that would be provided to schools.

Despite the highest COVID numbers in the nation and the apparent need for health care assistance, Dunleavy stopped short of using more dire language in pleading to Alaskans to get the vaccine, standing by the freedom of choice for Alaskans. No disaster declaration was announced and no new health orders were announced during the press conference.

“Alaskans know we have a vaccination. I’ve taken the vaccination, I’ve said on countless occasions that Alaskans should seriously consider getting the vaccination if they have not. I’m not going to berate Alaskans, I’m not going to yell at Alaskans, I’m not going to cajole Alaskans,” said Dunleavy. “I don’t think it’s necessary to twist arms. What I think is necessary is that we don’t politicize this pandemic any more that we have. I think serious, frank conversations with each other as to how we’re going to protect ourselves, again the state’s job is to make sure our systems are viable and don’t collapse. We’re doing that. The individual’s job and the state’s job in a pandemic is to provide the tools, the therapeutics and the vaccines, we’ve done that as well. It’s the individual’s job to make a decision that I hope they make for themselves, a decision that a lot of people have made, that they give serious consideration to the vaccines. For those that don’t and are in consultation with doctors, that’s a decision that you’re making.”