Thirty more Sitkans tested positive for the coronavirus between Friday and Monday (7-12-21), and four new hospitalizations were reported — giving the community the highest level of active cases since the peak of the pandemic last fall.
The patients range widely in age from one patient under 10 to several in their 70s and 80s. According to city data, all but four of them were experiencing symptoms when they received testing. As of press time, 18 of the cases are listed as “secondary,” meaning they had known contact with a COVID positive patient. Five cases are listed as “community spread.” Contact tracing is still in progress for the other seven cases. One of the patients is isolating outside of Sitka.
KCAW reached out to local public health officials for more information on the vaccination status of the newest wave of cases and whether the spike can be tied to a particular gathering or event — that information is still being collected. In previous comments, officials have said a significant majority of the new cases are among unvaccinated individuals.
Early last week, Sitka’s COVID alert level increased from ‘moderate’ to ‘high’ in what has become the biggest COVID outbreak since last November. Fifty-one cases are currently ‘active’ according to the city’s COVID dashboard. Sitka’s cumulative hospitalization rate has nearly tripled in the last week, from 6 to 15 cases.
Nearly 74-percent of eligible Sitkans have received at least one COVID vaccine dose, according to state data.
