Day’s 1,052 rise in state cases is lowest of week

No new deaths added; data said to reflect holiday lull

Arkansas’ count of coronavirus cases rose Friday by 1,052, the smallest-one day increase since Monday, while the number of covid-19 patients on ventilators jumped to a new high.

The state death toll from the virus, as tracked by the Department of Health, remained at 2,436, with no new deaths reported.

“As expected, we saw a decrease in testing yesterday, leading to a decrease in new cases compared to last week,” Gov. Asa Hutchinson said in a statement.

“The extent to which efforts were taken to help slow the spread this week will become evident in the weeks to come as we get back to a normal level of testing. Continue to protect yourself, your friends, and your family this weekend.”

The number of virus patients in hospitals rose by eight, to 1,011, while the number on ventilators grew by 23, to 192.

The previous record for the number of covid-19 patients on ventilators, as reported in the state’s daily coronavirus updates, was the 191 who were on the breathing machines as of Wednesday.

According to Health Department figures, people with covid-19 accounted for about 16% of the state’s total hospital patients as of Friday, including 39% of those in intensive care and 43% of those on ventilators.

Of the state’s 1,065 ventilators, 615 remained available for new patients as of Friday.

The number of virus patients in intensive care units remained at 406, but the state’s available intensive

care beds rose from 67 to 93, reflecting a reduction in non-covid patients in intensive care.

The number of virus patients in hospitals remained below the record 1,028 who were in the hospital as of Wednesday.

The number of people who have ever been hospitalized with the virus in the state rose by 20, to 8,779.

The number who have ever been on ventilators rose by two, to 966.

State Epidemiologist Jennifer Dillaha said having enough hospital personnel to care for the patients remains a concern.

“They need more staff if we’re going to open up more beds, and Arkansas is competing with other states for hospital staff, and ICU care is pretty specialized,” Dillaha said.

“That takes an experienced, seasoned nurse to care for someone in that setting, and as result we have nurses who have difficulty taking time off, and one of the concerns is burnout.”

ACTIVE CASES FALL

Likely reflecting a dip in testing during the Thanksgiving holday, Friday’s increase in cases was well below the 2,061 that were added the previous Friday.

Similarly, staffing changes at hospitals on the holiday could be the reason no additional deaths were reported, Dillaha said.

“That shouldn’t be interpreted as, ‘There were no deaths,’” she said. “It should just be interpreted as, ‘None reported.’”

The Health Department reported that 9,330 polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, tests and 355 antigen tests were performed on Thursday.

A week earlier, it reported that 15,095 PCR tests and 3,383 antigen tests had been performed on Nov. 19.

Over a rolling-seven day period, the average number of cases added to the state’s tallies each day fell from a record 1,824 as of Thursday to 1,680.

Dillaha said she didn’t know yet how well Arkansans had heeded public-health officials’ recommendations to avoid large Thanksgiving gatherings.

Reports of light crowds at stores for Black Friday sales alleviated one concern.

“It’s a good thing in terms of reducing spread,” Dillaha said. “The less people there are, the less likely the virus is to spread. It’s a difficult thing for the retailers.”

The cases added to the state’s tallies on Friday included 962 that were confirmed through PCR tests.

The other 90 were “probable” cases, which include those identified through less-sensitive antigen tests.

The state’s cumulative count of cases rose to 153,677.

That comprised 134,904 confirmed cases and 18,773 probable ones.

The number of cases considered active fell by 680, to 16,908, as 1,732 Arkansans were newly classified as having recovered.

The count of confirmed and probable cases rose by 131 in Benton County; 70 in Washington County; 63 in Pulaski County; 61 in Craighead County; and 40 in Saline County.

Among prison and jail inmates, the count of cases rose by 18.

TRAILER ARRIVES

To prepare for a possible surge in covid-19 deaths, the Washington County coroner’s office requested a refrigerated trailer, outfitted to hold about 17 bodies, from the state that arrived last week.

Coroner Roger Morris said he made the request because of “the uptick in what we’re seeing and the fact that we got real close to being overloaded twice this month already.”

Unlike most other coroners in the state, Morris and his deputies pick up all the bodies of people who die from covid-19 and hold them at the county morgue for the funeral home to pick up.

Morris said he instituted the practice as a way to protect funeral home workers and relatives of the deceased from infection.

“Our staff knows what we’re doing. We’re in and out,” he said. “Otherwise, you’re going to 15, 20 different funeral personnel, plus mortuary services, going in and out of these institutions.”

The protocol also helps alleviate pressure on funeral homes and allows more time for family members to make arrangements, he said.

“It allows funeral homes to make sure they visit with the families to see if they’re quarantined or if they’re getting tested or how they want to take care of their loved one, and then we can release after they take care of the ones they’ve already got,” Morris said.

“If we were to release them all at one time, there’s been twice this month alone that our mortuaries would have been overwhelmed.”

This spring, he said, the county installed an addition to the morgue to hold the bodies of covid-19 victims.

That unit is capable of holding eight bodies and is “staying full,” he said.

The refrigerated trailer arrived Nov. 19, he said.

He said he’s been stocking it with sheets, body bags and other supplies and hadn’t had to use it as of Wednesday.

He added that he’ll make it available to neighboring counties if the need arises.

“It’s better to be prepared than to have the hit and then you go, ‘Well, where I am going to get something to put them in?’” Morris said.

“What it does is it allows us to let the hospitals understand that we’re OK. Do what you have to do, worry about what you need to worry about and we’ll take care of your deaths.”

Kevin Cleghorn, president of the Arkansas Coroner’s Association, said he didn’t know of any other coroners in the state who are taking possession of the bodies of all people who die of covid-19.

“These bodies can be released to funeral homes just as they always have been in the past,” Cleghorn, the Saline County coroner, said.

“There’s no guideline or stipulation that says they have to be transported by the coroner’s office.”

The trailer that was sent to Washington County had been housed at the state Crime Laboratory in Little Rock.

Kermit Channell, the Crime Laboratory’s director, said the Health Department bought it, using federal grant money, after the flash flood in 2010 that killed 20 people at the Albert Pike Recreation Area in western Arkansas.

So far, the only time the trailer has been used was in 2015, when the Crime Laboratory and Pulaski County coroner removed 31 bodies and 22 sets of cremated remains from a Jacksonville funeral home that was found to have improperly stored bodies.

Early in the pandemic, the Federal Emergency Management Agency sent Arkansas an additional five refrigerated trailers, at the state’s request, but the state returned them after about a month when it became clear they weren’t needed, Melody Daniel, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Public Safety’s Division of Emergency Management, said.

At least two counties — Pulaski and Faulkner — have their own refrigerated trailers for body storage, she said.

Pulaski County Coroner Gerone Hobbs said he hasn’t had any problems with his morgue’s capacity or had to use the county trailer for covid-19 victims.

“The funeral homes will get them if they’re in the hospital,” Hobbs said.

“I don’t need to jeopardize my staff going into a hospital” with covid-19 patients, he said.