COVID-19 hospitalizations are down and the number of reported new cases has dropped, both in the school district and general population.
Central Peninsula Hospital Spokesperson Bruce Richards said Friday the hospital has fewer than 11 COVID-19 patients. He says the hospital doesn’t release more specific information on those hospitalizations, in accordance with federal recommendations about data privacy in small community hospitals.
For the first time in a while, the hospital is not overcapacity. Richards says the open beds mean the hospital doesn’t have to hold patients in the emergency room overnight anymore or postpone elective surgeries.
Hospitals around the state are seeing similar relief. Jared Kosin, president and CEO of the Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association, told the Anchorage Daily News hopeful the drop in hospitalizations signals a turning point for the state’s battle with the virus.
COVID case counts in the borough are also down. During the peak of the fall surge, there were as many as 400 to 500 new reported cases per week. In the last seven days, there have been 190, according to the state’s data dashboard. The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District is also reporting fewer cases.
Still, all regions of the peninsula — and most of Alaska — fall within what’s considered “high risk.” That means there have been more than 100 new reported cases in the last seven days per 100,000 people.
The case rate for the borough is three times that threshold.
