Ten new cases of COVID-19 detected in three Alaska communities

March 22, 2020 ANCHORAGE — The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services today announced 10 new cases of COVID-19 in three Alaska communities – Anchorage (7), the Matanuska-Susitna Borough (2) and Juneau (1).

All cases were in adults; none were hospitalized. All of these persons are isolating themselves at home and their close contacts are being asked to self-quarantine for 14 days and monitor for symptoms. One of the Anchorage cases had recent travel outside of Alaska. The remaining cases are not known to be travel-related at this time. The Section of Epidemiology is continuing to investigate these cases in cooperation with Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson, the Anchorage Health Department and local public health nurses.

“At least two of the new Anchorage cases that we are investigating have no clearly identified contact with a confirmed case,” said Dr. Joe McLaughlin, Alaska’s State Epidemiologist. “This indicates that community transmission of COVID-19 appears to be occurring in the Anchorage area.”

Travelers arriving from anywhere outside of Alaska should self-quarantine for 14 days, per the March 20th Alaska Health Alert. Find more information about how to keep yourself and your family healthy at coronavirus.alaska.gov.

Please note on March 23, 2020, DHSS will be shifting to provide daily case count updates on our website later in the day as most laboratory reports are being reported in the afternoon. Thank you.

###