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October was a record month for new COVID cases in Bristol Bay

Brian Venua/KDLG

The state reported more COVID-19 cases among Bristol Bay residents in October than in any other month since the beginning of the pandemic.

More Bristol Bay residents tested positive for COVID-19 in October than in any other month since the pandemic began. According to the state Department of Health and Social Services dashboard, 114 residents of the Lake and Peninsula and Bristol Bay boroughs tested positive for COVID, and 268 people from the Dillingham Census Area did.

 

The Bristol Bay Area Health Corporation said in a news release Friday that 169 people tested positive at its facilities in October. The count doesn’t include cases reported at other health care organizations. The corporation said there was also an increase in breakthrough cases. 

 

November has seen a drastic decrease in cases, though 58 people across the region have tested positive since Nov. 1.

 

Across Alaska, over 21,600 residents tested positive for the disease last month. October was also the second-deadliest month of the pandemic in the state, after September.

 

There have been a total of 1,319 cases of COVID-19 among residents of the Dillingham area, Lake and Pen and Bristol Bay boroughs since the beginning of the pandemic, according to state data.

 

According to the vaccine dashboard, 74% of people in the Bristol Bay and Lake and Peninsula boroughs 5 years and older have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. That’s much higher than the state's overall rate of 60%. In the Dillingham area, that number is 61%. 

BBAHC recommends booster shots for everyone who is eligible. That includes people who have received the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines at least six months ago and are residents or staff in long-term care settings, people who are 65 or older, and anyone who is 18 or older and has underlying medical conditions or works in high-risk settings, such as health care workers, teachers and grocery store workers.

Vaccines are also available for children ages 5 - 11. Contact BBAHCor your local health care clinic to find out more.

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

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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.