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Dillingham area woman in her 50s died of COVID-19

Izzy Ross/KDLG

The state said the 28 deaths it reported on Tuesday occured from August through October.

A woman in the Dillingham Census Area died of COVID-19 recently. She was in her 50s. 

Hers was one of 28 COVID-related deaths the state announced Tuesday. The state said those 28 people died from August through October, and that most of the newly reported deaths occurred in October. 

September was the deadliest month of the pandemic in Alaska, making up about a fifth of all COVID-related deaths in the state since March of 2020.

Public reporting of COVID deaths happens in one of two ways: Either health care facilities can report the death of a COVID patient to the state, or physicians determine the cause of death and list it on the death certificate. The state’s health department examines death certificate reviews to identify COVID-related deaths, but it can sometimes take weeks or months for those deaths to be included in the state’s reports.

Seven people in the Dillingham area have died of COVID since the pandemic began, according to the state’s dashboard. A total of 792 Alaskans have died of the disease.

Credit Alaska Department of Health and Social Services
Screengrab of the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services dashboard for the Dillingham Census Area. Nov. 10, 2021.

Contact the author at izzy@kdlg.org or 907-842-2200.

Izzy Ross is the news director at KDLG, the NPR member station in Dillingham. She reports, edits, and hosts stories from around the Bristol Bay region, and collaborates with other radio stations across the state.