As Alaska eclipsed its record for the number of people hospitalized due to COVID-19, the Haines Borough’s case count dropped to six active coronavirus cases on Wednesday.
Statewide 152 people were in the hospital with COVID-19 on Tuesday. Six deaths were reported. Fueled by the more infectious delta variant, cases and hospitalizations have surged across the country over the last few months. On Wednesday Alaska reported 801 new coronavirus cases—the second most it has recorded in a single day. But in Haines, the active case count has trended downward for two weeks. It was at 22 last Wednesday and 47 the week before that.
There have been no reported hospitalizations in Haines, as of last week.
“Please don’t let up — wear masks when you are out, keep your bubble small, wash your hands regularly,” officials wrote in a borough Emergency Operations Center announcement last Friday.
No new cases were announced on Friday. Two local people tested positive over the weekend and both were close contacts with someone else who had tested positive. The borough announced a new case on Tuesday, also of a close contact, and two more close contacts tested positive on Wednesday.
According to state data, about 70% of Haines residents are fully vaccinated, while 73% have gotten one vaccine dose.