State notches 1,314 increase in virus cases
Number at a 3-month high; omicron factor an unknown
The number of new covid-19 cases in Arkansas jumped to a level higher Thursday than has been seen for three months, topping 1,300 cases two days before Christmas.
The number of omicron cases reported in the state officially remains at two, according to the Health Department, despite a Memphis lab finding multiple cases of the latest covid variant in Craighead County after testing some of the patients.
The 1,314 new cases of the coronavirus raised the cumulative total to 547,248.
On the same day a month ago, there were 694 new cases. The increase is the highest since Sept. 24, when 1,365 new cases were reported.
“I expect today to be the last day of full data until next week due to the Christmas holiday,” Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Thursday in a social media post. “Let’s stay safe this week as we gather with family.”
Dr. Jennifer Dillaha, the Health Department’s chief medical officer, said the number of confirmed cases attributed to the omicron variant remains at two.
“But we know there are many more cases of omicron than the ones we have confirmed,” she said.
Dillaha said the Health Department reached out Thursday to the Memphis-based Compass Laboratory Services, where an official said Wednesday that his firm’s tests found “dozens” of omicron cases in Jonesboro that Arkansas officials had yet to acknowledge.
Health Department spokeswoman Meg Mirivel said previously that the department had not found any record of the Memphis lab reaching out to them, even though William Budd, chief scientific officer for Compass Laboratory Services, said the lab attempted to contact Arkansas authorities two weeks ago.
“We have been in touch with the lab today, but we have not yet received their reports,” Dillaha said Thursday.
In Jonesboro, St. Bernards Medical Center spokesman Mitchell Nail said omicron is fast on its way to becoming the dominant strain there.
“That’s significant in how much it is spreading,” Nail said. “If you compare it to the delta variant, it took months to do that.”
Craighead County’s new covid-19 cases have been exploding in the past few days, growing from 116 new cases Tuesday to 169 reported Thursday.
As of Thursday, it had 814 active cases, making it one of three counties in the state with more than 500 active cases — including Pulaski County with 904 and Benton County with 650.
“It’s not just unvaccinated individuals. What we’ve been seeing in outpatient clinics is a lot of people showing up that may have been double vaccinated, but they are at that point where they may need the booster,” Nail said. “So the booster has shown to be helpful in preventing omicron.”
The difference, though, is that “they’re not necessarily winding up in the hospital,” Nail said.
St. Bernards has remained at the 45-50 range of patients hospitalized with covid-19, with intensive care unit numbers staying between 14 and 18.
Health Department data shows that 46.1% of Craighead County residents are fully vaccinated while 9.3% are partially immunized.
Not all tests are screened for the omicron variant, Dillaha said. Arkansas samples are regularly sequenced for all variants, but samples are a high priority for sequencing if a PCR test shows a specific “s-gene dropout” in the result that may indicate the omicron variant is present.
“An ‘s-gene dropout’ is a small change in the PCR result obtained from certain types of PCR platforms. Many omicron variants have this characteristic, while the delta variant does not,” Dillaha said. “Also, not all samples with omicron variant may have this characteristic. Nevertheless, its presence helps identify samples that are more likely to be omicron variants.”
The greatest defense is being vaccinated and getting the booster shot, Dillaha said.
“Wearing a mask, social distancing, testing before a gathering, keeping gatherings small and increasing ventilation in indoor spaces can also help reduce the risk,” she said.
BY THE NUMBERS
The number of cases in the state that were considered active rose by 633 to 8,595.
The state’s death toll from the virus since March 2020, as tracked by the Health Department, rose by 13 to 9,020.
The number of patients hospitalized with covid-19 rose slightly by one to 495. The number of virus patients who were on ventilators rose by nine to 107.
Yavonda Chase, spokeswoman for the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, said she was “not aware” of any omicron cases at the hospital at this time.
UAMS has 19 patients with covid-19 and “more suspected, but pending results,” Chase said. Eight of those patients are in the intensive care unit, with four on ventilators and one on an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation — known as ECMO — machine.
“We have an uptick, yes, but it’s slow right now,” Chase said. “Our initial surge plan has remained in place, and we continue to closely monitor needs and resources.”
VACCINATIONS
The number of vaccine doses that providers reported having administered rose by 12,307 to 3,652,689.
The number of individuals fully immunized increased by 3,235, to a total of 1,496,123, or 52.6%, of Arkansans 5 years old and up. The number of Arkansans partially immunized against the virus increased by 1,556, to 347,328, or 12.2%, of the population 5 years old and up.
As of Thursday, 411,902 third vaccine doses had been administered.
According to Health Department data, 84.9% of the total cases since Feb. 1 were in people not fully vaccinated. Of the current active cases, 73.2% are in people not fully vaccinated. Of the total deaths, 85.2% were unvaccinated, and, of those hospitalized, 87.1% were unvaccinated.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 62.3% of Arkansans had received at least one dose as of Thursday.
The percentage who have been fully vaccinated remained at 50.9% Thursday.
TEST RESULTS
There were 8,510 newly reported covid-19 tests, comprising 5,815 PCR and 2,695 antigen tests.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, a total of 5,693,923 tests have been reported. Of that number, 571,157 were positive for covid-19, according to Health Department data.
Health Department data indicates that Pulaski County had the largest increase in cases reported Thursday, with the count rising by 175.
The next-highest increase was Craighead County with 169, then Benton County, with 96.