Recoveries jump; active coronavirus cases in county decrease by 20

The number of active COVID19 cases present in Union County decreased by 20 between Sunday and Monday, jumping down to 33 from 53 reported by the Arkansas Department of Health Sunday.

No new COVID-19 cases were reported in the community between Sunday and Monday, so the county remained at 173 cumulative cases Monday afternoon. No new deaths were reported either; so far, eight local residents have died as a result of COVID-19.

Local recoveries increased by 20 to 132, representing 76.3% of all local residents who had contracted COVID19 as of Monday. Nineteen new negative test results were also reported by the ADH; so far, the ADH has reported results for 1,160 COVID-19 tests performed locally, with an overall positivity rate of 14.9%.

Statewide, COVID19 cases increased by 190 between Sunday and Monday to reach 7,443. Of those, 1,909 — 25.6% — remain active, while 5,401 are considered recovered. Gov. Asa Hutchinson said during his daily COVID-19 update that many of the new cases come from workers in the poultry industry.

No new deaths were reported in Arkansas on Monday. So far, 133 Arkansans have died as a result of COVID-19, indicating a statewide mortality rate of 1.7%.

Hutchinson said over 80,000 people received COVID-19 tests during May in Arkansas. According to the ADH, 133,236 tests have been performed since the pandemic hit the state in March, with an overall positivity rate of 5.58%.

Hutchinson delivered his daily update on Monday in Rogers, in the northwestern part of the state, after a large increase in cases in that region over the past week.

Tent camping was allowed to resume at Arkansas State Parks yesterday.

Two state parks are located in Union County, the South Arkansas Arboretum and the Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources, but neither have campgrounds.

At 6 p.m. Monday, the United States had passed 1.8 million COVID-19 cases, reaching 1,808,291 cases; of those, 105,003 have died, indicating a national mortality rate of 5.8%.

The World Health Organization reported 6,057,853 COVID-19 cases worldwide Monday afternoon, with 371,166 deaths, indicating a global mortality rate of 6.1%.