Alaska’s hospitals report declining numbers of COVID-19 patients and fewer staff call-outs

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Alaska’s waning COVID-19 surge related to the omicron variant seemed to be loosening its grip on the state’s hospitals this week.

Hospital capability has been restricted by staff sick calls linked to the virus in addition to provide chain disruptions and a excessive variety of in poor health sufferers, together with these with COVID-19, well being and hospital officers say. At instances, hospitals in Anchorage reported tons of of employees out sick or quarantined.

Now, the variety of COVID-positive sufferers is dropping, however extra importantly, the state’s bigger hospitals say employee call-outs are declining too, based on Jared Kosin, president and CEO of the Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Residence Affiliation.

Typically, employees call-outs are beginning to stabilize and decline, Kosin stated Monday, including that some smaller rural services are nonetheless scuffling with employee absences.

“We’re in a way more steady place and it does appear like we’re beginning to take our trip down,” he stated.

As of Sunday, there have been 127 folks hospitalized with the virus throughout the state, a decline in comparison with the roughly 150 COVID-positive folks hospitalized on the peak of the most recent surge.

[Slowdown in Alaska’s COVID-19 case rate is a potential sign of omicron surge’s peak]

The state’s chief medical officer stated instances have been showing to “maybe plateau-ish” final week.

On Monday, the Alaska Division of Well being and Social Providers reported 3,021 new resident instances over the previous three days: 567 Sunday; 817 Saturday; and 1,637 on Friday. One other 61 instances have been reported in nonresidents.

Alaska reported a 2.2 % decline in instances between final week and the week earlier than, and a 27% week-to-week lower in instances earlier within the month. Nonetheless, Alaska’s seven-day case price continues to guide different U.S. states, according to a CDC tracker.

The variety of instances from Anchorage declined two weeks in a row on the finish of January, suggesting a sustained downward trajectory, well being officers say. However the variety of reported instances in Mat-Su and on the Kenai Peninsula climbed in comparison with the prior week.

A lot of the state remains to be in what’s thought-about a high-alert zone, which means greater than 100 instances are being reported per 100,000 folks.

This week, the state well being division switched from together with newly reported deaths in COVID-19 knowledge updates on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays to together with that info in its Wednesday updates solely.

Well being officers proceed to underscore the significance of being vaccinated towards the virus. In December 2021, unvaccinated Alaskans have been 13.8 instances extra more likely to be hospitalized than vaccinated Alaskans.

Statewide, 61.8% of Alaskans ages 5 and older had accomplished their main sequence of the COVID-19 vaccine.