Recoveries from COVID-19 up to 50 in Union County

COVID-19 recoveries in Union County reached 50 between Friday and Saturday, bringing the county’s active case count down to 22.

At 3:30 p.m. Saturday, the Arkansas Department of Health reported 73 confirmed cases in Union County; between recoveries and the county’s one death, the number of active cases reported on Saturday represents a sharp decline from Friday, when active cases were reported at 38.

Eleven new negative tests from the county had been returned by Saturday afternoon, according to the ADH; altogether, the state has received results for 402 tests performed in Union County. The positivity rate for the county is 18.1%.

Cases in Arkansas are close to reaching 4,000. On Saturday afternoon, state officials reported 3,984 active cases, an increase of 237 from Friday. The state’s death toll rose by two, putting Arkansas at 90 COVID-19 related deaths in all, representing 2.3% of all confirmed cases. No new hospitalizations were reported Saturday.ADH Secretary Dr. Nate Smith attributed the large increase in cases to test results reported by the United States Centers for Disease Control testing team at the Federal Correctional Institute in

Forrest City, in northeastern Arkansas. Prior to Saturday, new cases reported in the state had remained under 100 since April 30.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced Saturday that he would amend guidance previously given as to the reopening of large indoor venues after his announcement Thursday that casinos would be allowed to open at onethird capacity starting May 18. A separate guidance issued by the ADH last week said large indoor venues, like stadiums, arenas, movie theaters and bowling alleys would be allowed to reopen later in the month with a maximum allowable capacity of 50 people.

“For consistency purposes, as well as being fair,” Hutchinson said, the state will reissue guidance on the topic to allow those other large indoor venues besides casinos to reopen at a third of their capacity on May 18 as well. He said if a third of the venue’s capacity is equal to more than 50 people, the venue must submit a detailed plan to the ADH for approval. The new guidance will be issued early next week, Smith said.

The United States reached 1.3 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 Saturday, according to the ADH. Of those, almost 200,000 people have recovered and just under 80,000 people have died, leaving 1,022,766 cases active. Those who have died represent 6% of confirmed cases in the U.S., while those who have recovered represent 15.3% of those cases.

Worldwide, 3.8 million people had been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus by Saturday afternoon. Of those, 265,961 people have died, representing .007% of global cases.