State adds 40 cases of covid; death toll up 2

Epidemiologist: Watching similar gradual rises elsewhere in nation

The number of new covid-19 cases in Arkansas increased Monday by 40, nearly double the new cases reported on the same day a week ago by the state Department of Health.

There were 25 new covid-19 cases last Monday, the second smallest daily increase in coronavirus cases so far this year.

The uptick this week compared to a week ago could be concerning given that coronavirus testing over the weekend is usually lower, meaning numbers reported early in the week don’t always reflect actual illness circulating in communities, state epidemiologist Mike Cima said Monday.

Similar to other regions in the United States, particularly the northeast, Arkansas has been experiencing a gradual increase in cases in recent days.

“We are keeping an eye on those northeastern states primarily because they were the first ones to be hit in earnest with omicron,” Cima said. “We were able to glean some important information from them early on.”

Arkansas’ active case count Monday came in at 1,213, a decrease from the 1,273 active cases reported by the Health Department on Sunday.

The total number of covid-19 cases since the pandemic began in March 2020 reached 835,035 Monday.

There were 49 new active cases reported by the Health Department on Sunday, which marked the first time active case totals rose for five consecutive days since mid-January.

Public health officials are monitoring a range of data points, including increases in hospitalizations and cases in hospitals that result in critical treatment needs, such as intensive care admissions, as well as deaths.

Hospitalizations have remained relatively low, if not stable, Cima said. This is a similar trend elsewhere indicating the variants circulating are causing mild illness and may be slowly fading across the country.

“It is still too early to tell but it could be other states are approaching a plateau

[in new cases],” Cima said. “Hopefully that is the case, and we will see the same thing.”

The number of covid-19 hospital admissions increased by one Monday to 47 across Arkansas, according to Health Department data. Patients needing treatment in ICUs decreased from 22 Sunday to 17 Monday.

On Monday, 12 patients were on ventilators, according to the Health Department.

Deaths increased by two, bringing the total number of deaths in the state since the pandemic began to 11,373, the Health Department reported.

Cima cautioned that case numbers were low during the spring of 2021 ahead of the delta variant, which slammed Arkansas last summer, leading to overwhelmed hospitals and record numbers of critically ill patients.

There were 41 people who became fully vaccinated between Sunday and Monday, raising the total of fully vaccinated Arkansans to 1,586,281, the Department of Health reported.

Arkansas’ rate of fully vaccinated individuals, age 5 and older, was about 56% Monday, according to Health Department data.