4/14/20 Eight new cases of COVID-19 announced in Five Alaska communities; one new death

CORRECTION TO PREVIOUS PRESS RELEASE: Five Alaska communities were impacted by positive test results during this reporting period.

Eight new cases of COVID-19 announced in five Alaska communities; one new death

April 14, 2020 ANCHORAGE — The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) today announced one new death and eight new cases of COVID-19 in five Alaska communities – Anchorage (4), Girdwood (1), Wasilla (1), Juneau (1) and Craig (1). This brings the total case count in Alaska on April 13 to 285.

These new cases were reported from 12:00 a.m. until 11:59 p.m. on April 13 and reflect data posted at noon today on coronavirus-response-alaska-dhss.hub.arcgis.com.

This person who died was a 33-year-old female from Wasilla who had preexisting conditions. The person was reported as a new case on April 8. She died in an Anchorage hospital on April 12 and her death was reported a day later to DHSS. This brings the total deaths in Alaska related to COVID-19 to nine.

“Our thoughts today are with this individual, her friends and family and also with the health care providers who cared for her,” said Alaska’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anne Zink. “This is a reminder that sometimes young people also have underlying health issues that puts them at higher risk of contracting and dying from COVID-19. We know it’s getting harder for Alaskans to continue to stay home and keep maintaining distance from others but this is critically important to prevent the loss of life, to protect our health care infrastructure and to help us recover faster once we are able to lift our current health restrictions.”

Of the new cases, four are male and four are female. Four are aged 20-29; three are aged 30-39; and one is aged 40-49. There have been 32 total hospitalizations and nine deaths.

Stay informed:

• Alaska’s Response o Find more information about how to keep yourself and your family healthy at the DHSS webpage, coronavirus.alaska.gov

• Visit the governor’s webpage on COVID-19 at gov.alaska.gov/covid19news

•  Visit ready.alaska.gov/covid19 on the Division of Homeland Security & Emergency Management        webpage for Unified Command information, community press releases and other documents.

United States response:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention leads the U.S. response.

Global response:

The World Health Organization guides the global response.

Questions about COVID-19? 

• For general questions and assistance, please call 2-1-1.

• For the general public, questions regarding DHSS COVID response, including mandates and alerts, can be sent to covidquestions@alaska.gov.

• For DHSS media inquiries, please contact clinton.bennett@alaska.gov.

###

DHSS_PressRelease_AKCOVIDCases_20200414.pdf