55 active COVID cases in the region

Active cases in the region hit an annual low of 55, two thirds of which were in Nome. The remaining third were in six villages, up from four last week, but down from 13 villages just weeks prior.

There are currently 55 active cases in the region: 37 in Nome, six in St. Michael, five in Teller, three in Stebbins, two in Brevig and two in Golovin.

“Things are looking pretty good,” Norton Sound Health Corporation’s Medical Director Dr. Mark Peterson said. He said that because there are more people in town for the Iditarod, it wouldn’t surprise him if there were more positives, but doesn’t expect a spike like in the past. Even so, he encouraged masking, hand washing and distancing through the end of March. “I think people should stay the course,” he said.

The Iditarod Banquet requires proof of vaccination and masking while not eating, which Peterson said sets the tone. “We’d like to see the same thing happening in town throughout the month.”

Alaska lags behind the national average for COVID vaccinations, but the Nome Census Area far exceeds the state. Nationally, 77 percent of the population has had at least one shot, 66 percent is fully vaccinated, but only 29 percent have been boosted. In Alaska, 71 percent received at least one shot, 64 percent are fully vaccinated, but only 27 percent are boosted. In the region, 84 percent had at least one shot, 81 percent are fully vaccinated, but even here, only 39 percent are boosted.

The week in numbers

On Tuesday, March 8, Norton Sound Health Corporation identified 35 new COVID-19 cases. There were 15 in Nome, 11 in Brevig Mission, six in Stebbins, two in St. Michael and one in Teller.

This led to 89 active cases in the region: 56 in Nome, 16 in Brevig, 12 in Stebbins, two in St. Michael, and one each in Koyuk, Savoonga, and Teller.

In the next two days, NSHC identified 65 new COVID-19 cases in the region. 57 were in Nome, four in Stebbins, three in Brevig Mission, and one in Teller.

This brought the active case count in the region to 124: 92 in Nome, 15 in Brevig, 15 in Stebbins, one in St. Michael, and one in Teller.

Over the weekend, NSHC identified 39 COVID-19. There were 31 in Nome, three in each Teller and St. Michael, and one in each White Mountain and Brevig.

Active cases dropped even lower, to 65: 51 in Nome, four in each St. Michael and Stebbins, and three in each Brevig and Teller.

On Monday, March 14, Norton Sound Health Corporation identified 15 COVID-19 cases. There were six in Teller, four in Nome, two in Golovin, two in St. Michael, and one in Stebbins.

Other COVID news

While the Food and Drug Administration’s Emergency Use Approval of a vaccine for children 6 months to 5-years-old awaits more data, the Washington Post reports that Pfizer and BioNTech plan to apply for an EUA for a fourth booster for older adults.

In the recent omnibus spending bill, Congress declined to include over $22 billions of funding for COVID programs. The White House has said it will impact their ability to pay for testing, vaccinating, and treating uninsured Americans. National Public Radio reports that the White House said it will have to cut back shipments of monoclonal antibody treatments to states by 30 percent next week because of the funding snafu, and said the nation’s supply of those treatments could run out as soon as May.

The Center for Disease Control’s new metrics are causing confusion, as two maps show the same area in both red and green. Until late February, the primary metric used was community transmission rate and test positivity rate. By this metric, the Nome Census area is currently still in “High” transmission risk. However, the new metric is based on hospital admissions and case rates, by which the region appears as “medium.”

Since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020:

The United States of America has had at least 79,562,252 cases of COVID-19 and 967,720 deaths

Alaska has had 236,001 cases, 3,686 hospitalizations and 1,168 deaths. There are currently 51 people hospitalized due to the coronavirus.

The Nome, Bering Strait and Norton Sound region has had at least 5,421 reported cases, 42 hospitalizations and 5 deaths.