COVID-19 update
EDITOR’S NOTE: As a service to our readers, The Sentinel-Record will publish updates released each weekday by the city of Hot Springs and the state of Arkansas.
The following stats were shared Friday at Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s daily COVID-19 news conference in Little Rock and posted on the Arkansas Department of Health’s website:
• 18,740 cumulative cases, up 678 from Thursday.
• 283,965 tests reported, up 6,585 from Thursday.
• 6.6% rate of infection, up from 6.5% Thursday.
• 5,707 active cases, up 12 from Thursday.
• 12,784 recoveries, up 657 from Thursday.
• 284 hospitalizations, no change from Thursday.
• 249 deaths, up seven from Thursday.
• 647 cumulative nursing home residents infected, up nine from Thursday.
• 63 cases on a ventilator, down three from Thursday.
• 210 cumulative cases in Garland County, up five from Thursday.
• 6,080 tests reported for Garland County, up
97 from Thursday.
• 3.5% rate of infection, up from 3.4% Thursday.
• 45 active cases in Garland County, up four from Thursday.
• One death in Garland County, no change from Thursday.
The rolling seven-day average of new cases fell Friday for the first time in five days. Friday’s
587 average was slightly lower than Thursday’s peak of 590.57, but the 678 new cases reported Friday raised the cumulative infection rate for a third straight day. The rate has increased 27% in six weeks, with the moving average increasing
483% over that time.
The 669 community cases reported Friday were an all-time high, topping the 662 reported June 19.
The five new cases reported Friday in Garland County increased its cumulative infection rate for a third-straight day. The county rate is about half of the statewide rate.
The county’s rolling seven-day average of new cases increased for a third-straight day, reaching 5.42 after being at 5 Thursday. The county’s active cases also increased for a third straight day, with the 45 active infections reported Friday marking a two-thirds increase from a week earlier.
The state’s hospitalizations were flat Friday, the first time there was no net gain since Monday. The northwest public health region’s
123 COVID-19 patients in hospitals led the state Friday, followed by 105 in the central region,
28 in the northeast region, 23 in the northwest region and five in the southeast region.
The northwest region also had the most
COVID-19 patients in intensive care units, with
58. It had 42 ICU beds available Friday. The central region, which includes Garland County, had 43 COVID-19 patients in ICU beds, with 60 beds unoccupied.
Hutchinson reasserted that the easing of restrictions on businesses and social gatherings that began last month aren’t related to the growth in new infections. Information he shared from the state’s case investigators showed only a small percentage of recently infected people reported being at a restaurant, personal care business, church, day care, gym, doctor’s office or hotel within 14 days prior to their diagnosis.
“We do not have the correlation between lifting any restrictions and opening these particular businesses with the expansion of cases,” he said.
Hutchinson said some of the state’s case clusters were attributed to places of worship.
“Ninety-eight percent of our churches are following the guidelines that have been presented,” he said. “They are being so careful in protecting their congregants. But we’ve had a couple of instances where they did not follow the guidelines, and it’s resulted in a cluster of cases.”
Information Hutchinson presented showed
2,455 of the state’s cumulative cases were related to the poultry industry. Most of the cases were in the northwest. Two-thirds of the cases are classified as recovered.