Alaska now up to 226 total cases; Mat-Su up to 5

ANCHORAGE — Gov. Mike Dunleavy did not announce any new health mandates or alerts as part of his press daily press conference on COVID 19 Wednesday but did announce that 13 more Alaskans have tested positive and one more person has died, bringing the state total up to seven deaths. Additionally, four more people have been hospitalized bringing the state’s cumulative total at 27 with 32 people who have been categorized as recovered from symptoms of the coronavirus.

“Alaska is still doing really really well in terms of numbers. We’re increasing our testing but nonetheless it’s a race to get our health care stood up,” said Dunleavy. “We believe these cases would be much higher and that peak would be much more dramatic if you weren’t doing what you’re doing by socially distancing from others, keeping six feet or more away from others and wiping down your surfaces and not shaking hands.”

Alaska’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anne Zink videoconferenced into the press conference and detailed the numbers around the new cases. Of the 13 new cases, six were identified in both Fairbanks and Anchorage and one new case was located in Palmer, the fifth case in the Mat-Su and first in a week. The most recent death as a result of the coronavirus came from an Anchorage woman in her mid 40’s that Zink believes contracted the disease in Anchorage.

“We’ve done 7,068 tests. A number that I’m often looking at is the percent positive. Unfortunately that does continue to creep up slowly so we are at 3.2 percent positive. It’s much better than most other states but we want that number going down as much as possible,” said Zink. “Distance matters and so the fact that people potentially have a little more space in the Valley may help and part of it’s just luck.”

Of the 13 new cases, one individual is over 80 and three are over 60. Zink provided a walkthrough of new features on the state’s data hub, including a table showing the state has requested more than three million N95 masks. Zink said that a Health Action Alert would be issued that changes the guidelines on who can be tested, specifically referring to Abbott rapid testing. Alaska received 90 Abbott testing machines that will be distributed through rural Alaska.

“These don’t test high numbers but they test quickly and have been working about dividing them across the state to be able to kind of supplement testing for those who are not near Fairbanks or Anchorage at this time,” said Zink. “Every day that we are able to slow down this virus is one more day that we’re able to protect a life. What Alaskans are doing right now is literally saving lives. You are all 100 percent essential in this process.”

Zink detailed the different options that are being researched on how to provide antibody testing for Alaskans.

“I think we really need to have the capacity to test all Alaskans potentially a couple times as we’re waiting for treatment options and vaccine options to be able to make sure that we’re not spreading it,” said Zink. “We are continuing to pursue antibody testing as something that we would like to be able to do here in the state of Alaska. We’d like to look not where the puck is but where it’s going and we see that as a future tool that would likely be part of a strategy moving forward.”

On Tuesday, Department of Health and Social Services Commissioner Adam Crum announced a clarification for Health Mandate 5 that had canceled all non urgent surgeries. The clarification provides a list of non urgent surgeries nearly in line with the recommendations from the American College of Surgeons but additionally lists circumcisions and abortions as non urgent procedures. Dunleavy noted that the decision was not political and made to protect limited Personal Protective Equipment for medical professionals throughout the state and was repeatedly asked about the decision during the press conference on Wednesday.

“There was a question that came up, are we being political because we’ve included some of these groups such as a dentist or planned parenthood and the answer is no we’re not being political,” said Dunleavy. “We’re just trying to save as much PPE as possible.”

Zink was asked if she had a deciding factor in limiting abortions and circumcisions by their classification as non urgent under Health Mandate 5 and said that her concern was the health of all Alaskans.

“Dr. Zink is an incredible asset and gift to this state and the issues involving politics have never come up in the conversations with the doctor. She is totally focused on what’s best for Alaska,” said Dunleavy. “I have nothing but the greatest praise for Dr. Zink and I think most Alaskans do as well.”

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