The Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta no longer has the highest COVID-19 case rate in Alaska.
The region has led the state in case rates for four months, since Oct. 21, 2020. But as of Feb. 23, 2021, state epidemiological data shows that the region dropped to the second-highest case rate in the state. It has been superseded by the Matanuska-Susitna Region, which now leads Alaska with its COVID-19 case rate.
According to the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation, the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta’s case rate is 24 cases per 100,000 people. That’s less than a tenth of what the region’s peak case rate was in November 2020, when it was 300 cases per 100,000 people.
State epidemiological data shows that the Matanuska-Susitna Region currently has 34.02 cases per 100,000 people.
Anna Rose MacArthur is a reporter at KYUK in Bethel.
