![This illustration provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in January 2020 shows the 2019 Novel Coronavirus. This virus was identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness first detected in Wuhan, China. [CDC]](https://www.juneauempire.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/23009323_web1_Coronavirus-ADW-200204-virus-P.jpg)
The Department of Health and Human Services announced that there were four deaths and 144 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Alaska as of Oct. 14.
The largest numbers of confirmed cases came from Anchorage, with 89 new cases, and Fairbanks and Eagle River, which both had 11 new cases.
One of the deaths was a Juneau resident, which had previously been reported by the city. The other three were in Anchorage. While three of the casualties were in their 60s or older, one death was a woman in her 20s.
In the previous seven days, 15,673 tests have been completed across Alaska, with a positive rate of 4.48%, according to the state.
[Update: Centennial Hall stood up, hospital reports first in-patient death]
“Our test positivity rate is climbing. We’d like to see that number under two percent,” said City and Borough of Juneau Emergency Operations Center planning chief Robert Barr in a news briefing Tuesday, speaking specifically about Juneau. “Any time it’s over 2%, that’s an indication that there are cases out in the population that we are not seeing.”
Anchorage, Fairbanks, and the Northwest region are in the high alert levels, with roughly 30 cases or more per 100,000 residents. Juneau is in the intermediate alert level, with 9.16 cases per 100,000. The rest of the Southeast continues to be in the low alert level, with less than 2 cases per 100,000.
• Contact reporter Michael S. Lockett at (757) 621-1197 or mlockett@juneauempire.com.
