Union County reports 6th death from coronavirus-related illness

Arkansas continues upward trend with 147 new cases

The Arkansas Department of Health reported a sixth death attributable to COVID19 in Union County Sunday, along with several new local cases.

At 3:30 p.m. Sunday, the ADH listed Union County’s confirmed COVID-19 cases at 157, an increase of five from Saturday. Of those, 55 — 36% — are considered active.

Before this weekend, Union County’s death toll had stayed steady at four local residents taken by COVID19 since May 12. With sixth deaths, Union County has the fourth-highest death toll in the state. The county’s mortality rate has grown to 3.8%. The ADH counts 96 Union County residents recovered and reports 845 negative test results received locally, putting the county’s positivity rate at about 16% based on current test reports. Testing will continue this week at the Medical Center of South Arkansas,

the South Arkansas Medical Association (SAMA) and the Union County Health Unit. Spokespersons for MCSA and SAMA have said their facilities have tested more people than reported results would indicate; ADH Secretary Dr. Nate Smith has said the time it takes between a test being performed and results being returned to the state varies. A testing surge is planned in El Dorado on June 6.

Arkansas saw its confirmed cases grow by 147 to 5,992 between Saturday and Sunday. It was only last Wednesday that the state first surpassed 5,000 cases. Of the total cases, 1,658 — 28% — are considered active. Another death was added to the state’s total Sunday; in all, 116 Arkansans have died as a result of COVID-19, indicating a state mortality rate of 2%. Over 4,000 Arkansans have reportedly recovered.

With 108,581 tests reported in Arkansas, the state has maintained a positivity rate of about 5%, according to the ADH. Gov. Asa Hutchinson has set a goal to perform 60,000 tests across the state this month. Next month, the ADH plans to ensure every staff member and nursing home resident in the state is tested.

Courtyard Healthcare and Rehabilitation is the only local nursing home facility reporting COVID-19 cases. On Friday, the ADH reported 40 cases at the facility, with 31 in residents and nine in staff members.

About 37% of cases in Arkansas are in people residing in congregate living settings, including nursing homes and prisons. The remainder are in the community. A little less than two-thirds (61%) of all the cases in Arkansas have been in men.

Just over half, at 52%, of the state’s cases are in white people, with 38% in black people, 1% in Asian-Americans and 3% in Pacific Islanders. In 2019, the United States Census Bureau estimated Arkansas’s population to be 79.1% white, 15.7% black, 1.7% Asian-American and .4% Pacific Islander; this would indicate that black and Pacific Islander residents of Arkansas are being affected by COVID-19 at a rate disproportionate to their respective populations in the state.

Most of Arkansas’s cases — 39% — have been detected in people between the ages of 25 and 44, followed by 32% found in the 45 to 64 years age bracket, 15% in the older than 65 years age bracket and 9% in the 18 to 24 years age bracket. Five percent of the state’s cases have been in those under 18 years old.

According to the ADH, 1,633,076 COVID-19 cases had been confirmed in the United States by Sunday afternoon, with 361,239 reportedly recovered and 97,430 Americans reportedly dead as a result of the virus, indicating a national mortality rate of 6%.

The World Health Organization reported 5,206,614 COVID-19 cases worldwide Sunday afternoon, with 337,736 deaths reported in connection with the virus, indicating a global mortality rate of 6.5%.