Alaska records most daily COVID cases amid healthcare strain

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska on Wednesday reported its highest number of new COVID-19 cases, a day after the state’s largest hospital announced it had entered crisis protocol and started rationing care.

There were 1,068 new cases of COVID-19, with case counts 13% higher than last week. State officials said 201 Alaskans required hospitalization for COVID-19, and 34 of them were on ventilators in a state with limited health care capacity.

“Our hospitals have been and continue to be incredibly stressed,” Dr. Anne Zink, the state’s chief medical officer, said on a conference call. “There is not capacity in the hospitals to care for both COVID and non-COVID patients on a regular basis.”

Statewide, there are about 1,100 non-intensive care unit hospital beds, with only 302 available Wednesday. The state has only 21 of its 125 ICU beds open.

When many people become ill at the same time, it overwhelms the state’s health care system.

“And then we start to see excess mortality where more people dying from other things such as heart attacks and strokes and car accidents and bear maulings or whatever else happens,” Zink said.

When announcing its crisis care protocol on Tuesday, Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage said it would prioritize care to those who have the best potential to benefit most.

Staff at the hospital, one of three in the state’s largest city, are stretched thin, leaving people to wait for hours in their cars to see a doctor in case of an emergency.

Jared Kosin, president and CEO of the Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association, said the Providence announcement conveys how bad the situation is.

“We certainly from the hospital world have been talking about this and the grave circumstances and direction we’re headed. To now be here is really...