COVID-19 update
EDITOR’S NOTE: As a service to our readers, The Sentinel-Record will publish the updates released each weekday by the city of Hot Springs and the state of Arkansas.
The following stats were shared Friday at Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s daily COVID-19 news conference in Little Rock and posted on the Arkansas Department of Health’s website:
• 11,547 cumulative cases, up 731 from Thursday.
• 187,017 tests reported, up 6,626 from Thursday.
• 6.2% rate of infection, up from 6.0% Thursday.
• 3,764 active cases, up 470 from Thursday.
• 7,607 recoveries, up 256 from Thursday.
• 203 hospitalizations, up 16 from Thursday.
• 509 nursing home residents infected, up seven from Thursday.
• 49 cases on a ventilator, up four from Thursday.
• 176 deaths, up five from Thursday.
• 154 cumulative cases in Garland County, no change from Thursday.
• 4,819 tests reported for Garland County, up
133 from Thursday.
• 3.2% rate of infection, down from 3.3% Thursday.
• 135 recoveries in Garland County, up one from Thursday.
• 18 actives cases in Garland County, down one from Thursday.
• One death in Garland County, no change from Thursday.
The 731 new cases reported Friday marked a single-day high for total and community cases, increasing the rolling seven-day average of new cases to 413.71. The spike pushed the moving average 21.1% higher than Thursday’s average and was more than 300% higher than the May 12 average. Friday’s new cases included 207 from correctional facilities, with most in the Arkansas Department of Correction’s East Arkansas Regional Unit in Lee County.
The number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals increased by 16. The 203 reported Friday are the most since the pandemic began in March and marked a 244% increase since May 12.
Hutchinson said the rising second peak on the state’s epidemiological curve isn’t a function of a flawed public health strategy but lax execution of that strategy. Social distancing and mask wearing has to improve to flatten the second peak, he said.
“I don’t see what we’re doing as not working,” he said. “We might not be doing it well enough. I think the strategy is the right strategy. In terms of social distancing, we can do better.”
The 199 positive cases reported Friday from Tyson Food’s Berry Street facility in Springdale underscored the importance of social distancing and wearing a mask when social distancing isn’t possible, Hutchinson said, as all but one of the cases was symptomatic.
“There are many out there who are not showing any symptoms and who are not aware they’re positive and capable of spreading the virus,” he said. “For that reason it is critically important we go to simple health habits we should all follow. If we do that, than we don’t have to worry about that person coming toward us or walking beside us if they’re 6 feet away.”
Hutchinson said wearing a mask is a common courtesy and vital to keeping the economy going while the virus remains part of everyday life, but he said it can’t be mandated by the state.
“We’re not going to issue a directive that everybody in the state of Arkansas has to put a mask on when they’re out in public,” he said. “It would not be enforceable. It would not be realistic. … That’s just not Arkansas.”
Dr. Jose Romero, the Health Department’s interim secretary, said a recent study has shown masks’ effectiveness in household settings, he said.
“Data is beginning to be published to indicate that masking is very important in controlling the spread of COVID-19,” he said. “There’s been a recent study that in families where individuals wore masks there was less of a chance of infecting other individuals in that family. So in that environment if you can reduce the transmission, you can certainly do so in public.”
Hutchinson said the procurement of the state’s more than $20 million contract for contact tracing services has been expedited. The Health Department proposal approved last month would provide more than 300 contact tracers. In the interim, Hutchinson said he activated 20 National Guard members to assist the state’s case investigators.
No new cases were reported Friday in Garland County, but its rolling seven-day average of new cases remained at two or higher for a fourth straight day.