Alaska COVID-19 Count April 6, 2020 - No New Deaths, 3 More Hospitalized, And 6 More Positives

I started these daily reports because a) the State's original reports were sparse and b) each report was replaced daily, so there was no way to track changes over time.  The State redid their posts with great interactive graphics last week, but you still can't track the daily increases in confirmed cases, hospitalizations, and deaths.  They do have graphs which track tests since the beginning to today.  But the numbers don't quite match.  Early on there were only State Lab tests, but they don't show up on the early days in their graphs.  And the daily up-dates often show 0 state tests.  The daily number of tests doesn't match the cumulative number of tests often.

But you can get the historical progression of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths here.  I also have the tests, but I'm less certain about the numbers because the State's numbers seem to be off.


My Calendar Chart

CONFIRMED COVID-19 CASES ALASKA MARCH/APRIL 2020
Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
new/total	hos=hospital		12th  = 0/0	13th = 1/1	14th = 0/1	15th = 0/1
16th = 0/1	17th = 2/3	18th = 3/6	19th = 3/9	20th = 3/12	21st= 2/14	22nd= 8/22
23rd=14/36	24th =6/42 1 hos 1 dead	25th = 17/59 3 hos 1 dead	26th = 10/69 3 hos 1 dead	27th =16/89 5 hos 2 dead	28th = 13/102 6 hos 2 dead	29th=12/114 7 hos  3 dead
30th=5/119 7 hos 3 dead	31st= 14/133 9 hos 3 dead
April 2020		1st=  10/143 9 hos 3 dead	2nd=8(6)/149 13 hos 3 dead	3rd=8(11)157 15 hos 3 dead	4th=15/171 16 hos 5 dead	5th=14/185 20 hos 6 dead
6th=  6/191 23 hosp 6 dead
		Hospital and dead figures are total to date, not new on that date

STATE Charts

The chart above is a screenshot image - if you click on it, it will enlarge and focus.  But it's not interactive.  The same chart, below, IS interactive.  But it changes daily.  I put the screenshots are up here on the blog to preserve the day-to-day record of what was posted.



The State has been posting the Geographical Distribution of Confirmed Cases since the changed to the new reporting format.  I haven't duplicated it here, but every once in a while it gets copied with the other chart, so I'm leaving it in today.

Click here to access raw data.

Cases depicted above represent permanent residency of the infected person, and may not reflect where the person is located currently, or was located when exposed or diagnosed.

Check the cumulative test data and then compare it to the daily test data.  The new tests generally are less than the difference between today's cumulative tests and yesterday's.  It seems there's something odd going on with the State daily test numbers.   Today's says zero State tests and yesterday only shows 29.  That doesn't seem right.

My day-by-day tracking of the numbers.

Alaska Covid-19 Data NewFor... by Steve on Scribd

"Every creature on earth has approximately two billion heartbeats "

Iguazú, Argentina 2019

The Sun Magazine* has a section called The Dog Eared Page, where the publish works that have been from the January 2020 issue, is about hummingbirds and hearts.
published before.  This one,

"A hummingbird’s heart beats ten times a second. A hummingbird’s heart is the size of a pencil eraser. . .
"To drive those metabolisms they have race-car hearts that eat oxygen at an eye-popping rate. Their hearts are built of thinner, leaner fibers than ours. Their arteries are stiffer and more taut. They have more mitochondria in their heart muscles — anything to gulp more oxygen. Their hearts are stripped to the skin for the war against gravity and inertia, the mad search for food, the insane idea of flight. The price of their ambition is a life closer to death; they suffer more heart attacks and aneurysms and ruptures than any other living creature. It’s expensive to fly. You burn out. You fry the machine. You melt the engine. Every creature on earth has approximately two billion heartbeats to spend in a lifetime. You can spend them slowly, like a tortoise, and live to be two hundred years old, or you can spend them fast, like a hummingbird, and live to be two years old."

Then he makes a stark contrast.

"The biggest heart in the world is inside the blue whale. It weighs more than seven tons. It’s as big as a room. It is a room, with four chambers. A child could walk around it, head high, bending only to step through the valves. The valves are as big as the swinging doors in a saloon."

Most of us know so little about the natural world, a world we have tried to set ourselves apart from.  But, we too, are in the continuum from hummingbird to blue whale.  Our hearts are also four chambered.  Some specialists know a lot about hummingbirds or about blue whales.  But as profession of science has required more and more specialization, many scientists know a lot about a very small portion of the universe.  Knowing nature holistically is not the specialty of science, yet it's what we need, so that we understand how our actions affect everything else.  How extracting oil affects the air, the earth, the water, and all the living things near and far.  How it affects human health, wealth, values, morality.

Juneau,  Alaska 2008

*The Sun Magazine is a wonderful magazine with interviews, poetry, short stories, readers' stories based on a set theme, and other insightful writing.  It's also ad free.  You can see an article or two online without a subscription, but you can see all the titles over the years.  

Alaska COVID-19 Count Sun April 5, 2020 - 1 More Death to 6, 14 New Positives, 4 New Hospitalizations

Today's State Data page shows:

+1 death to 6
+4 hospitalizations to 20
+14 positive cases to 185

My Calendar Chart

CONFIRMED COVID-19 CASES ALASKA MARCH/APRIL 2020
Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
new/total	hos=hospital		12th  = 0/0	13th = 1/1	14th = 0/1	15th = 0/1
16th = 0/1	17th = 2/3	18th = 3/6	19th = 3/9	20th = 3/12	21st= 2/14	22nd= 8/22
23rd=14/36	24th =6/42 1 hos 1 dead	25th = 17/59 3 hos 1 dead	26th = 10/69 3 hos 1 dead	27th =16/89 5 hos 2 dead	28th = 13/102 6 hos 2 dead	29th=12/114 7 hos  3 dead
30th=5/119 7 hos 3 dead	31st= 14/133 9 hos 3 dead
April 2020		1st=  10/143 9 hos 3 dead	2nd=8(6)/149 13 hos 3 dead	3rd=8(11)157 15 hos 3 dead	4th=15/171 16 hos 5 dead	5th=14/185 20 hos 6 dead
				4/3 - State #s (11/157)don’t match yesterdays’       /149)
		Hospital and dead figures are total to date, not new on that date

Here's a screenshot of today's data.  I'll put the interactive version below it.

You can click on the image above to enlarge and focus it.  But only the one below is interactive.


Scroll right to see the rest of the data, but remember to scroll back to the left to see the rest of the post.  And play with the tabs to see different visualizations.

*Cases depicted in the map above represent residency of the infected person, and may not reflect where the person was located when tested positive. For example, the case shown in Petersburg Borough represents an individual who had residency status in Petersburg but was not currently residing there at the time of infection.

Most of the numbers work for me today.  There is still a glitch with the daily test graph.  It shows 18 new tests, but the cumulative tests graph shows about 244 new tests.  Nevertheless, the Department of Health has come a long way with these beautiful interactive graphics.



Here's my chart which shows the numbers day-by-day from March 11.

Alaska Covid-19 Data NewFor... by Steve on Scribd

Here are a couple of graphs of total cases and total dead.  The gap is where I moved to April and left a blank row.

We're still going up pretty steadily.

We had a six day plateau, and then we started going up again.  Two of the six deaths are Alaskans who died out of state.


All COVID and no play makes Steve a dull boy.  I'm working on a longer post that combines idea from the book I'm reading - The Overstory - and ideas about the pandemic, capitalism, how we treat the natural world, and laws of nature rebalancing things.  It's way too complicated right now, but I think it's right on the mark.  Be patient with me please.  I'm putting this here to put more pressure on myself to get it done.  

Alaska COVID-19 Count - April 4, 2020 - 2 New Deaths, 1 New Hospitalization, 14 New Cases

The numbers on the new charts are squirrelly - yesterday there was a total of 147 confirmed cases and today it says 171.  But it says there are 13 new cases.  My math makes that 14 new cases.  The press release for today says 14 on the top and 13 on the bottom.

The total number of tests - looking at the cumulative table comes out to 6040.  But yesterday it was 6016 - and the new tests table shows 197 new tests.

We had gone five days without a new death, but we got two today, which is the most in one day.  The press release says the death was an Anchor Point man who acquired the virus and died Outside of Alaska.  Because he's an Alaska resident, he's counted in our statistics.  That may account for the two different counts of new cases.  That means there have only been 3 deaths from COVID-19 in the State of Alaska (another Alaskan death was also Outside).  The second death today was a woman in Fairbanks.

Also one new hospitalization.  (The State's hospitalization number is total, cumulative.  Not how many are in the hospital today.)

So the format is great, with lots of useful interactivity.  But the numbers don't add up right.  There was an understandable discrepancy when they changed the reporting time.  But that was a couple of days ago.

I've also found the State Data Hub which has a lot of explanation of the statistics.  For instance this explanation of how changing the data to match national standards means people are counted in their state of residency.  So Alaskans who contract the illness and die Outside are counted in Alaska.  Here's the explanation for another oddity in the count:

"Today you will see on the dashboard that 11 new cases are reported, but the cumulative count only increased by 10 cases since the non-resident case was removed."

So I'm tracking based on the number of total confirmed cases and figuring out the new cases based on the number of total cases the day before.
And I'm using the chart that shows the cumulative number of tests and not paying much attention to the chart that shows the tests by day.  That way I can stay consistent.

My calendar chart.

CONFIRMED COVID-19 CASES ALASKA MARCH/APRIL 2020
Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
new/total	hos=hospital		12th  = 0/0	13th = 1/1	14th = 0/1	15th = 0/1
16th = 0/1	17th = 2/3	18th = 3/6	19th = 3/9	20th = 3/12	21st= 2/14	22nd= 8/22
23rd=14/36	24th =6/42 1 hos 1 dead	25th = 17/59 3 hos 1 dead	26th = 10/69 3 hos 1 dead	27th =16/89 5 hos 2 dead	28th = 13/102 6 hos 2 dead	29th=12/114 7 hos  3 dead
30th=5/119 7 hos 3 dead	31st= 14/133 9 hos 3 dead
April 2020		1st=  10/143 9 hos 3 dead	2nd=8(6)/149 13 hos 3 dead	3rd=8(11)157 15 hos 3 dead	4th=14/171 16 hos 5 dead
				4/3 - State #s (11/157)don’t match yesterdays’       /149)
		Hospital and dead figures are total to date, not new on that date

Here's a screenshot of the state's numbers for today (for the record) and below I'll paste in the actual chart (which changes daily so you can't track what it said yesterday.)

If you click on the image it will enlarge and focus better.  The interactive version of this is below.  However, the one below changes everyday, so the one above is our 'archive' version for April 4.

*Cases depicted in the map above represent residency of the infected person, and may not reflect where the person was located when tested positive. For example, the case shown in Petersburg Borough represents an individual who had residency status in Petersburg but was not currently residing there at the time of infection.

My Running Chart by date and data

Alaska Covid-19 Data NewFor... by Steve on Scribd

After another overnight snow, today warmed up to what might be the warmest day of the year.  We went for a nice walk.  Most of the walk we didn't see others.  But around our neighborhood there were dog walkers and joggers, but all well away from us.

Alaska COVID-19 Count April 3, 2020 - Up To 159 Cases

My Calendar Chart

CONFIRMED COVID-19 CASES ALASKA MARCH/APRIL 2020
Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
new/total	hos=hospital		12th  = 0/0	13th = 1/1	14th = 0/1	15th = 0/1
16th = 0/1	17th = 2/3	18th = 3/6	19th = 3/9	20th = 3/12	21st= 2/14	22nd= 8/22
23rd=14/36	24th =6/42 1 hos 1 dead	25th = 17/59 3 hos 1 dead	26th = 10/69 3 hos 1 dead	27th =16/89 5 hos 2 dead	28th = 13/102 6 hos 2 dead	29th=12/114 7 hos  3 dead
30th=5/119 7 hos 3 dead	31st= 14/133 9 hos 3 dead
April 2020		1st=  10/143 9 hos 3 dead	2nd=8(6)/149 13 hos 3 dead	3rd=8(11)157 15 hos 3 dead
				4/3 - State #s (11/157)don’t match yesterdays /149)
		Hospital and dead figures are total to date, not new on that date

Yesterday there were 149 cases and today there are 157 for an increase of 8 cases.  But the State's page says there was an increase of 11.  I suspect they are still catching up from changing the time each day when they report.  But I'm going to report it as 8.  I put a note in the chart.  

Here's a screenshot of their chart. I just checked yesterday's post and the part I cut and pasted - with all the interactive parts - automatically updated to today's page.  So I need to keep the screenshots for the historical record.  For instance, yesterday's page says 149 cases and today's says 157.  That's NOT an increase of 11 cases.

This is a pretty high res image so if you click on the image above it will enlarge and focus.
But it won't be interactive.

 Like yesterday, it's going to overwhelm this page, but you can scroll right to see it all, just don't forget to scroll back left to see the rest of the post.  Also the interactive parts should work here again like they did yesterday.  You can also just go to the State page.   I'm putting these up here to be sure the record of each day's State posting is preserved for the public to see.  

The State has done a great job getting some these much more helpful  data visualizations up.  Be sure to check out the tabs which change the charts to offer different ways to see the data.  

*Cases depicted in the map above represent residency of the infected person, and may not reflect where the person was located when tested positive. For example, the case shown in Petersburg Borough represents an individual who had residency status in Petersburg but was not currently residing there at the time of infection.

My long term chart.

Alaska Covid-19 Data NewFor... by Steve on Scribd

I'm going to post this now, but will review it again after the Gov's press conference is over.

Delayed Spring And, Uh, Tiger King

Two or three more inches of snow overnight.

I'd love to get out the cross country skis, but I'm unsure of social distancing on the trails.  With everyone isolating, I suspect a fair number of folks will be out today.

But I did go for a walk in the neighborhood.  No people out - except two way off in the distance.  And there's lots of room to get out of the way - just walk into the street.



Meanwhile, I've had these two mystery seeds lying around.  I know we got them out of a seed pod in California with my granddaughter, but I don't remember what plant it was.

I planted them yesterday and maybe I'll find out what the plant was.

And our tuberous begonias popped out the other day.  I'd cut them back last spring and put the flower pot in the garage.  Didn't even ask the house sitter to water them.  Though when we were home, I watered them.  Wasn't sure they'd come back.

A good sign, especially since sprouting outside will be more like 25 years ago than in recent years.

Not sure how the time goes by so quickly - and my todo list gets checked off so slowly.  Partly, I think because of the unexpected things I end up doing and forgetting to look at the list.  J likes to go to the market generally, but since we're using the app to get home delivery, it falls to me.  Ugh.

And I have to admit it - we finally finished Tiger King last night on Netflix.  Sure, the producers spiced it up, but the overriding question for me is:  What does this tell us about people in the United States?  The animal collectors, the breeders, the PETA folks, the people who go to the private zoos?  The people who send in donations to 'save the tigers'?  I couldn't help thinking that Joe Exotic behaved exactly like our president in many ways, just in a different environment.  Apparently a lot of other folks watched it too.  If any of you readers have seen it, please tell me what you thought.  

I'd recommend The English Game for those with Netflix.  About the working class football teams that challenged the upper class football players in Great Britain in the late 1800s.