County reports new COVID death
Cases increase by 15
An Arkansas Department of Health spokesperson said 15 new COVID19 cases had been confirmed in Union County Wednesday, bringing the cumulative number of cases identified locally to 523.
The ADH spokesperson also said there were 19 deaths attributable to COVID-19 in Union County, which would represent an increase of one local resident who has died due to the virus. The local COVID mortality rate — the percentage of those who have had the virus and died as a result of it — was 3.63% Wednesday.
Of the cumulative cases in the county, 425 were considered recovered Wednesday, the ADH spokesperson said, up 15 from Tuesday. There were 79 active cases in the county Wednesday, down 11 from Tuesday. Active cases represented 15.1% of the county’s cumulative case total.
No changes have been reported in any of the congregate living facilities in Union County where COVID-19 cases have been identified since last week. According to a report produced by the ADH, three workers have tested positive for the virus at Advanced Health and Rehab of Union County; six workers and one resident, who has died, have tested positive for the virus at Timberlane Health and Rehab; and nine residents and four workers have tested positive at Community Living Arrangements.
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Arkansas grew by 703 to reach 51,114 Wednesday. Of those, 43,816 were considered recovered, leaving 6,725 cases — 13.15% of the cumulative case total — active statewide.
The deaths of seven Arkansans that resulted from COVID-19 were reported Wednesday, bringing the state’s death toll to 573, indicating a state COVID mortality rate of 1.12%. The number of Arkansans hospitalized due to the virus saw a net decrease of 21, leaving 486 hospitalized because of COVID on Wednesday. The number of Arkansans on ventilator support decreased by three to 113.
Governor Asa Hutchinson said Wednesday he planned to sign a letter of intent to partner with the Arkansasbased Rockefeller Foundation and other states to form a coalition in order to enhance the collective buying power of the respective states from commercial testing labs.
“To strengthen our place in the marketplace, so we can give them confidence that they can expand; (so) that they know the demand is there, because we’ve committed to that demand,” Hutchinson said, explaining the purpose of the coalition.
He said he is still gathering information on which states will join the coalition and what their purchasing commitments to the commercial labs will be. For several days, the number of test results returned to Arkansas from commercial labs has been relatively low, and for over a month, Hutchinson has noted a lag in results from the private labs.
“It will be in terms of a commitment for purchasing and creating the demand for testing supplies in the future, so the supplier and the commercial labs will know what the demand will be because they’ve got that commitment by various states,” Hutchinson said. “There’s a small list of states that have agreed to this, and it’s likely to grow.”
The ADH reported that 4,401 COVID-19 tests were returned to the state between Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. and Wednesday at the same time, indicating a one-day positivity rate for the state of 15.97% based on the number of cases and results reported. There have been 61,919 total test results reported so far in August.
According to Johns Hopkins University, there were 5,191,689 COVID-19 cases in the United States at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday. Of those, 1,753,760 were considered recovered, leaving 3,272,020 cases — 63.02% — active nationwide. There had been 165,909 deaths attributable to the virus in the U.S. by Wednesday evening, indicating a national COVID mortality rate of 3.19%.
Johns Hopkins reported 20,461,772 COVID19 cases worldwide Wednesday evening. Of those, 12,706,040 were considered recovered, leaving 7,009,952 cases — 34.25% — active around the world. There had been 745,780 deaths attributable to the virus by Wednesday evening, indicating a global COVID mortality rate of 3.64%.