The Kenai Peninsula reported 16 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday and Monday, with 13 of those cases on the central peninsula, according to press releases from Alaska’s Department of Health and Social Services.
Altogether, the state of Alaska reported 50 new cases on Monday and 106 new cases Sunday, as well as 46 recoveries and two new hospitalizations.
The 50 cases announced on Monday are all among Alaska residents, and only three of the cases announced Sunday were from nonresidents. Since the state began tracking the pandemic, 4,309 residents and 801 nonresidents have tested positive for COVID-19. Of these, 3,031 resident cases and 619 nonresident cases are active.
Of the 16 new cases reported Sunday and Monday on the peninsula, Soldotna and Kenai each reported five cases, Sterling reported three cases, Homer reported two cases and Anchor Point reported one new case. The Kenai Peninsula has 244 active cases among residents and nonresidents.
There are 32 patients with COVID-19 who currently require hospitalization, and an additional patient who is under investigation. A total of 175 hospitalizations have occurred statewide since the start of the pandemic.
Statewide, 305,648 tests for COVID-19 have been conducted. The positivity rate of tests processed in the last seven days in 1.71%.
This includes a total of 14,286 tests that have been conducted in the Kenai Peninsula Borough. Of those, 7,177 tests have been conducted at South Peninsula Hospital and 3,966 tests have been conducted at Central Peninsula Hospital, according to public information officers Derotha Ferraro and Bruce Richards.
The positivity rate of tests conducted on the Kenai Peninsula in the last seven days is 1.92%.
Testing locations
On the central peninsula, testing is available at Capstone Family Clinic, K-Beach Medical, Soldotna Professional Pharmacy, Central Peninsula Urgent Care, Peninsula Community Health Services, Urgent Care of Soldotna, the Kenai Public Health Center and Odyssey Family Practice. Call Kenai Public Health at 907-335-3400 for information on testing criteria for each location.
In Homer, testing continues to be available from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily at South Peninsula Hospital’s main entrance as well as through SVT Health & Wellness clinics in Homer, Seldovia and Anchor Point. Call ahead at the hospital at 907-235-0235 and at the SVT clinics at 907-226-2228.
In Ninilchik, NTC Community Clinic is providing testing on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The testing is only for those traveling, symptomatic, needing testing for medical procedures, or with a known exposure after seven days. Only 20 tests will be offered per day. To make an appointment to be tested at the NTC Community Clinic, call 907-567-3970.
In Seward, testing is available at Providence Seward, Seward Community Health Center, Glacier Family Medicine and North Star Health Clinic.
Reach reporter Brian Mazurek at bmazurek@peninsulaclarion.com.
