State health officials reported 745 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday in Alaska residents and non-resident visitors to the state. This is a new high number of cases reported for one day in Alaska, and a significant jump of the previous high, reported last weekend.
Alaska Public Media and KTOO talked to officials from seven hospitals across the state this week and all expressed concern about the state’s health care system’s ability to handle the skyrocketing number of COVID-19 cases.
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And an increasing number of hospital workers are out sick or quarantining. At the same time, more patients with coronavirus are filling hospital beds. Currently, between suspected and confirmed patients with the virus, 106 people are in the hospital with COVID-19 infections. That means that 1 in 10 patients in Alaska’s hospitals have COVID-19.
The majority of the cases reported today are Anchorage residents. Providence Alaska Medical Center, which is the state’s largest hospital, said on Friday that in response to the recent rise in cases, it has acquired a refrigerated trailer to be used as a temporary morgue, if needed.
