Three new coronavirus-related deaths reported in Union County

There were 32 new COVID19 cases reported in Union County Friday by the Arkansas Department of Health, raising the cumulative total of cases identified locally to 3,113. The cases in the county included 2,416 confirmed cases, up 20 from Thursday, and 697 probable cases, up 12 from Thursday.

The United States Centers for Disease Control considers positive results from PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests to be confirmed cases and positive results from antigen (rapid) tests to be probable cases.

Three local residents' deaths that were caused by COVID-19 were reported on Friday. Eight Union County residents have died as a result of COVID since Sunday, and 89 have died in total due to the virus, indicating a local COVID mortality rate — the percentage of people who have died after contracting the virus — of 2.9%. The number of active cases in the county dropped by nine Friday to reach 221; they represented 7.1% of all the cases identified locally and included 178 confirmed cases and 43 probable cases. There were 2,803 Union County residents considered recovered from the virus, up 38 from Friday. The ADH produced reports on COVID-19 cases in educational institutions on Jan. 21 in which the El Dorado, Smackover-Norphlet and Parkers Chapel school districts were listed as each having at least five active cases among staff and students.

According to the report, as of Jan. 21, there were 23 active cases in the ESD, and a total of 225 cases had been identified in the district, including 81 in staff and faculty members and 139 in students. In the PCSD, there were five active cases reported on Jan. 21, and a total of 62 cases had been identified in the district, including 19 staff and faculty cases and 41 student cases.

In the SNSD, there were 15 active cases on Jan. 21. In all, 92 cases had been identified in the district, including 22 in staff and faculty and 67 in students. The SNSD announced Thursday it would pivot to all virtual learning starting Friday through Feb. 1 due to the high

volume of COVID cases in the district.

SNSD Superintendent Jason Black said about 25 people in the district are in isolation due to having contracted the virus, and an additional approximately 175 people have had to quarantine in the last couple weeks. The decision to pivot to at-home instruction was made in conjunction with the ADH, he said.

“Thank you to our teachers and staff for all the effort and adjusting that went into ensuring our students went home with devices and information to make next week a success,” Black said in an email to the News-Times. “Although moving to at home instruction is not the ideal setting, we do feel this will give the situation a time period to settle down and get our kids and staff back on campus. We thank our community and parents for their flexibility during this time.”

Black said parents that have questions about at-home instruction or related issues should call their child's school for assistance.

There were 173 people hospitalized Friday due to the virus in the Southwest hospital region of the state, where Union County is located, including 60 in intensive care units and 28 on ventilator support.

The ADH reported 282 new negative COVID-19 test results returned from Union County Friday. In all, 25,277 COVID-19 test results have returned from Union County, including 22,164 negatives, indicating an overall local positivity rate of 12.3%.

The addition of 2,162 new COVID-19 cases grew the cumulative total of cases identified in Arkansas to 281,382 Friday. The cases in the state included 225,737 confirmed cases, up 1,494 from Thursday, and 55,645 probable cases, up 668 from Thursday.

Active cases in Arkansas dropped to 20,107 Friday, down 511 from Friday; they represented 7.1% and included 14,150 confirmed cases and 5,957 probable cases. There were 256,696 Arkansans considered recovered from the virus Friday, up 2,620 from Thursday.

The deaths of 53 Arkansans that resulted from COVID were reported Friday, bringing the state's death toll to 4,549, indicating a state COVID mortality rate of 1.6%. There were 1,142 Arkansans hospitalized due to the virus Friday, including 364 in ICUs and 193 on ventilator support.

Since the state began testing for the virus, 2,662,775 results have returned to the ADH, including 2,371,649 negatives, indicating an overall positivity rate for the state of 10.6%.

At 3:45 p.m. Friday, Johns Hopkins reported 24,762,793 COVID-19 cases in the United States. Data wasn't available then on the number of U.S. residents considered recovered from the virus or the number of active cases in the country. By Friday afternoon, 412,780 deaths attributable to the virus had been reported in the U.S., indicating a national COVID mortality rate of 1.7%.

Johns Hopkins reported 97,962,267 COVID-19 cases worldwide Friday afternoon. There were 53,987,605 people considered recovered from the virus then, leaving 41,873,641 cases — 42.7% — active around the world. There had been 2,101,021 deaths attributable to the virus reported by Friday afternoon, indicating a global COVID mortality rate of 2.1%.