First Mat-Su resident dies from coronavirus

The first Mat-Su Borough resident has died due to COVID-19 complications.

A 33-year-old Wasilla woman died in an Anchorage hospital on April 12. The woman did have underlying medical conditions, according to Alaska Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anne Zink.

“It’s a reminder how underlying medical conditions can really put people at risk,” Zink said during a press conference Tuesday evening. “And that may be because of treatment someone is getting for other conditions or it may be other underlying medical conditions they may have had since birth.”

According to raw data published by the state, the person was infected on April 1, reported as a positive case on April 8. The woman was hospitalized on April 6. The state’s COVID-19 total deaths now stands at nine, as of Tuesday evening.

“That individual was not seen out here or tested out here to our knowledge, was not at Mat-Su Regional. She was in Anchorage but that is one fatality, her address is in the Mat-Su Borough and we have 15 positive cases for the Mat-Su Borough,” Mat-Su Borough Emergency Services Director Ken Barkley said in a borough press conference Wednesday.

State officials also announced eight new COVID-19 cases Wednesday. There were three cases in both Anchorage and Juneau, and one in both Nome and Juneau. The case in Nome is the first reported in northwest Alaska. There are now 293 total cases in Alaska.

There were also two new hospitalizations reported Wednesday, pushing the state’s cumulative total to 34. The number of recovered cases in Alaska passed the century mark, with a total of 106 as of Wednesday.

Anchorage now has 126 of the state’s 293 cases. There are 63 cases in Fairbanks and 21 in Juneau. There were no new cases in the Mat-Su Borough reported Wednesday, and the Valley’s total stands at 15.

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