COVID-19 update
EDITOR’S NOTE: As a service to our readers, The Sentinel-Record will publish daily updates released each weekday by the city of Hot Springs and the state of Arkansas.
The following stats were shared Tuesday at Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s daily COVID-19 news conference in Pine Bluff and posted on the Arkansas Department of Health’s website:
• 10,080 cumulative cases statewide, up 340 from Monday.
• 170,520 tests reported, up 5,079 from Monday.
• 5.9% rate of infection, no change from Monday.
• 3,044 active cases, up 49 from Monday.
• 6,875 recoveries, up 245 from Monday.
• 173 hospitalizations, up two from Monday.
• 488 nursing home residents infected, up five from Monday
• 44 cases on a ventilator, down two from Monday.
• 161 deaths, up six from Monday.
• 150 cumulative cases in Garland County, up eight from Monday.
• 4,549 tests reported for Garland County, up 63 from Monday.
• 3.3% rate of infection, up from 3.2% Monday.
• 134 recoveries, up one from Monday.
• 15 active cases in Garland County, up seven from Monday.
• One death in Garland County, no change from Monday.
The eight new cases reported Tuesday in
Garland County were the largest single-day increase in two months, raising the county’s rolling seven-day average of new cases above one for the first time in almost three weeks. The moving average reached two Tuesday, and active cases increased to 15 after being at four Friday.
The state’s rolling seven day average of new cases fell to 323.14 Tuesday after increasing the three previous days. The average has grown more than 200% over the last four weeks. Hutchinson noted that the current rise in the state’s epidemiological curve has surpassed the first peak in April.
He said he’ll make an announcement today on when the second phase of lifting restrictions on businesses and social activities will begin. Restaurants, gyms, personal care services and outdoor venues can expand operations in the second phase.
“I understand that some people want to accelerate, and some want to go slower,” he said. “We still have a rising number of cases here in many parts of Arkansas. We want to make sure we’re taking the right steps to control it to the extent we can.
“Whatever phase we’re in, we still need you to socially distance, to wear your mask and protect yourself.”
Hutchinson gave his briefing in Pine Bluff at Jefferson Regional Medical Center, site of the first confirmed case in Arkansas.
“This county, this hospital, have been the tip of the spear,” Dr. Nate Smith, Health Department secretary, said. “They’ve been on the front lines of our battle against COVID-19 and done a remarkable job.”
Twenty-eight people in Jefferson County have died from COVID-19, giving it one of the state’s higher death rates. Most of them came from The Waters of White Hall nursing home, where the Health Department has reported 15 resident deaths.
“This area has been hit hard in terms of deaths, but it could’ve been much worse than it was,” Smith said. “A couple of nursing homes here were very hard hit early in the pandemic.”