By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
Six resident COVID cases in the last two days has kept Sitka’s alert level in the “high” range.
Sitka now has 14 resident cases listed for the week of Sept. 9-15, which puts the rate at 164.26, based on figures from the state dashboard. The new calculation that started Sept. 1 on the Sitka dashboard is the number of cases for the last seven days, per 100,000 population.
The last nonresident cases were Sept. 7 and 8, when two and one cases were reported, respectively, by the state Department of Health and Social Services.
The intent of the new case rate on the city dashboard had been to have combined resident and nonresident cases, but it appears that the city’s dashboard until today matched the state Department of Health and Social Services’ figures for residents only.
The city dashboard was changed today to include both resident and nonresident cases. It listed two cases on Wednesday and four today.
The cases per day are reported through the previous day on the Alaska COVID-19 Cases dashboard, for residents, nonresidents and the combined total. The information can be accessed by region, city (census area), and time period that cases are reported.
Sitka has been in the high alert level since early July – with a case rate of 100 or more. The case figures have been on a steady decline since peaking July 22 at 2,346.59, and have held steady between 100 and 200 for the past five days.
The new alert levels in Sitka follow those for the state Section of Epidemiology, with risk levels set at high (red) 100 or more; substantial (orange) 50 to 99.99; moderate (yellow) 10-49.99; and low (blue) under 10.
The state switched its alert system in August from three levels to the four-level system “to better align with Centers for Disease Control levels,” the state said. It is more sensitive to changes than the former system of the 14-day rolling average.
For Sitka’s population, Sitka hits “high” with 9 or more cases in a week. Substantial is 5 to 8 cases in a week; moderate is 1 to 4; and low is zero cases in a week.
The city has recommended mitigation guidance for each alert level.
The Section of Epidemiology said the weekly incidence per 100,000 population is a useful figure because it “directly reflects how widespread the virus is in a community relative to its population size.”
“However, no one measure can fully capture the complex dynamics of the COVID-19 epidemic in Alaska,” DHSS says on its webpage explaining the four levels. “For example, other factors that may be considered include the extent to which cases occurring in the community have a known source of infection, the percentage of tests that are positive in the community, the vaccination coverage in that area, and whether the trajectory of COVID-19 in Alaska is increasing or decreasing.”
The Unified Command group has been meeting every week on Wednesdays, but has switched its schedule to every other week.
The updated vaccination figures are 6,129 (82.99 percent) are partially vaccinated, and 5,980 (80.97 percent) are fully vaccinated. The percentage is based on the 12 and up population of 7,385.
The 65 and up Sitkans are vaccinated at 89.38 percent, with 1,216 listed as fully vaccinated and 1,321 partially vaccinated. Sitka’s 65 and up population is 1,478, DHSS says.
