New cases added in Union County

Cumulative local cases rise to more than 200

Union County’s number of cumulative COVID-19 cases broke 200 Saturday, increasing by three from Friday to reach 202, according to the Arkansas Department of Health.

Of those, 163 are considered recovered, also three more than Friday, leaving 28 local cases —13.86% — active. No new local deaths were reported Saturday; altogether, 11 Union County residents have died as a result of the virus.

The ADH also reported 22 new negative test results returning for Union County Saturday, bringing the total number of local test results reported to 2,067, with 1,865 having returned negative. The local one-day positivity rate Saturday was 1.46% and the overall positivity rate for the county is 9.77%.

A blood drive is being held today by LifeShare Blood Center from noon to 3 p.m. at Cross Life Church at 1010 W. Combs Street. Today is the last day LifeShare is offering COVID-19 antibody testing for those who donate blood. Antibody tests can deter

mine whether a person was previously exposed to COVID-19 and whether their blood plasma could be used to help treat current COVID patients.

Arkansas’ number of cumulative cases broke 12,000 Saturday, with 548 new cases reported by the ADH to reach 12,095. Of those, 7,863 are considered recovered, while 4,055 cases — 33.5% — remain active, a new record for the state.

The ADH also reported one new death in the state attributable to COVID-19, putting the state’s death toll at 177, indicating a statewide mortality rate of 1.46%.

Over 6,000 new negative test results across the state were reported Saturday, bringing the total number of tests performed to 193,794, with 181,699 having returned negative. The one-day positivity rate across the state Saturday was 8%, and the overall positivity rate is 6.2%.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced Friday that he would activate 20 National Guard members to assist the ADH in contact tracing efforts. During an appearance on C-Span, Hutchinson said he believed he made the right decision to move into Phase II of reopening, which will begin Monday, despite the rise in cases seen in recent weeks.

“We continue to watch that every day, but right now I think we’re where we need to be in terms of our restrictions we still have,” he said. “We have to manage that risk, so that’s what we’re really pushing here through that education process, so the consumer, the patron of businesses, the individual can make good decisions.”

Hutchinson has encouraged state residents to wear face masks in public places where it is not possible to socially distance. He said Friday he did not believe making mask requirements legally enforceable was feasible in Arkansas.

Johns Hopkins University reported 2,064,417 COVID-19 cases in the United States at 4:15 p.m. Saturday afternoon; of those, 547,386 are considered recovered, leaving 1,401,892 cases — 67.9% — active nationwide. There had also been 115,139 American deaths attributable to the virus by Saturday afternoon, indicating a national mortality rate of 5.57%.

Johns Hopkins also reported 7,719,770 COVID-19 cases across the world Saturday afternoon; of those, 3,663,251 are considered recovered, leaving 4,091,049 cases active worldwide. There have also been 427,798 deaths attributable to the virus worldwide, indicating a global mortality rate of 5.54%.

“We have to manage that risk, so that’s what we’re really pushing here through that education process, so the consumer, the patron of businesses, the individual can make good decisions.” —Gov. Asa Hutchinson