Homer has seen no new COVID-19 cases in 14 days

Alert level remains high with 19.93 cases per 100,000.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect the absence of COVID-19 cases in Homer over the past two weeks.

The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services reported 649 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, 30 of which were among nonresidents.

In Homer, according to the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District dashboard, there have been no reported positive cases of COVID-19 reported in the past 14 days.

The state reporting period covers the Seward’s Day weekend from March 26-29. Normally, DHSS does not report on Saturday and Sunday, but because of Monday’s state holiday, the Tuesday update included an extra day of data.

There have now been a cumulative total of 60,333 COVID-19 cases in the state of Alaska, according to state data. Of those, 2,568 cases have been among nonresidents. A total of 309 Alaska resident deaths have been related to COVID-19, while four nonresidents have died with the disease while in Alaska.

As of Wednesday, there were 33 people being hospitalized in Alaska for COVID-19, as well as one additional person being hospitalized for a suspected case of the virus. According to the state’s hospital data dashboard, 3.5% of all people hospitalized in the state are being hospitalized for COVID-19. Three are on ventilators.

There have been a cumulative total of 1,350 Alaska residents hospitalized for COVID-19 over the course of the pandemic.

The southern Kenai Peninsula, measured from Ninilchik south, has had three new cases of COVID-19 identified over the last 14 days. The peninsula as a whole has had 42 new cases of the virus identified over the last two weeks and remains in the intermediate alert level, according to the average case rate per capita, with 6.18 cases per 100,000. The statewide alert level is high, with 19.92 cases per 100,000. The Matanuska-Susitna region has the worst alert level, at 42.14 cases per 100,000.

Of the new cases announced Wednesday, there were 240 in Anchorage, 145 in Wasilla, 5 in Fairbanks, 31 in Palmer, 17 in Eagle River, 13 in the Bethel census area, 13 in Valdez, 12 in North Pole, 10 in Chugiak, nine in Delta Junction, eight in Soldotna, seven in Juneau, six in Willow, four in Kodiak, four in Seward, four in Sitka, four in Talkeetna, three in Big Lake, three in Copper River, three in Kenai, Three in Ketchikan, three in Sterling, three in Utqiagvik, two in Healy, two in Houston, and one each in Aleutians West Borough, Bethel, Kenai Peninsula Borough South, Nikiski, Nome, Nome Census Area, North Slope Borough, Northwest Arctic Borough, Prince of Wales-Hyder, Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, and Sutton-Alpine.

The average percentage of daily positive tests for the previous seven days is 2.9%

Also reported Tuesday were 30 new nonresident cases — nine in Anchorage, one in Fairbanks, eight on the North Slope, two in Kodiak, one in Valdez and four with locations under investigation.

According to the South Peninsula Hospital’s tally of positive cases through March 29, on the Kenai Peninsula there have been 3,938 people who have tested positive for COVID-19, with 680 in the hospital service area, 68 in Anchor Point, 19 in Fritz Creek, 479 in Homer and 114 in other small villages or census areas on the southern peninsula.

As of March 29, the hospital has done 19,863 tests, of which 512 were positive and 85 are pending.

Testing on the Kenai Peninsula:

Free COVID-19 tests are offered 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. seven days a week at the lower level of the South Peninsula Hospital Specialty Clinic, at 4201 Bartlett Street, Homer. Please use the Danview Avenue access. Please call and pre-register before coming if and when possible.

Testing is also available through the SVT Health & Wellness clinics in Homer, Seldovia and Anchor Point. Call ahead 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.

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 Seward, testing is available at Providence Seward, Seward Community Health Center, Glacier Family Medicine and North Star Health Clinic.

Reach Michael Armstrong at marmstrong@homernews.com.