An Anchor Point man has succumbed to the coronavirus. The death, in a middle-aged man out of state, occurred on Wednesday (March 29), but not reported until Saturday. His name and location at the time of his death were not released.
In the announcement from the State Department of Health and Social Services, it says the man developed symptoms and subsequently died of Covid-19 while out of state.
Meanwhile, the City of Seward has confirmed its third positive test for Covid-19.
Here’s Dr. Anne Zink, the state’s chief medical officer.
“Today we have an additional 14 cases to announce, one additional death for additional hospitalizations and 10 additional recovered people. Regarding the person who has passed away this is an older gentleman with underlying medical problems we believe obtained the disease when he was outside of Alaska, became more ill after he returned home, was hospitalized and unfortunately passed away. We want to send our love and condolences to him and his family as well as a special thanks to healthcare workers who cared for them,” Zink said. “This can be a very challenging and stressful time. Regarding the 14 additional cases, we know that five are male, nine are female, two between the ages of 10 and 19. Three between the ages of 30 and 39. One between the ages of 40 and 49. Three between the ages of 50 and 59. Three between the ages of 60 and 69. Two between the ages of 70 and 79. As mentioned, there have been four additional hospitalizations and this brings our cumulative total hospitalization count to 20. One additional death as mentioned bringing our total deaths of Alaskans to six. And 10 additional recovered people bringing our total recovered people to 26. Those are people who no longer require isolation and our epi team has said that they are now free of the disease. Of the new cases, two are from Juneau, four from Anchorage, seven are from Fairbanks and one is from Seward.”
In her update, Zink said she’s been fielding a lot of reports of gatherings contrary to the state’s social distancing order.
“We've also been hearing concerning stories about grocery stores, parties and people hanging out. It's incredibly important that each person in Alaska remembers that you are an essential part of this process. It's easy to think of essential workers and who can go to work such as people in the healthcare industry and infrastructure. But truthfully, we're all essential to this. We all need to be doing our part to flatten that curve and to take care of each other," she said. "So today in the midst of the fear and the panic and all that we see regarding Covid-19, find your purpose. Find the way that you can be essential to Alaska and find your way to help flatten that curve. Remember, stay a minimum of six feet away from others. Make sure that when you're going outside or anywhere in public, you have a face covering on, make sure you're washing your hands very regularly. Minimize all trips that you need, including those to the store and finding ways to get food delivered, or having someone be able to pick it up or some sort of drive thru, but trying to avoid any sort of indoor space for others may be.”
The Kenai Peninsula Borough Office of Emergency Management did not hold Facebook Live updates over the weekend. The next one will be Tuesday night.
