In the last week, the coronavirus’s omicron variant has pushed Alaska’s daily case counts higher than the fall delta variant surge and sidelined health care workers at an alarming rate, according to APM.

The state surpassed 1,700 cases for the first time last Wednesday and hovered around 1,500 cases a day going into the weekend.

Hospitalizations have not yet increased at the same rate. State epidemiologist Dr. Joe McLaughlin said he’s hopeful they won’t.