County’s COVID-19 death toll rises to three
EDITOR’S NOTE: As a service to our readers, The Sentinel-Record publishes updates released each weekday by the city of Hot Springs and the state of Arkansas.
The following stats were shared Thursday at Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s daily COVID-19 news conference in Little Rock and posted on the Arkansas Department of Health’s website:
• 26,052 cumulative cases, up 806 from Wednesday.
• 364,661 test reports, up 5,744 from Wednesday.
• 7.1% infection rate, up from 7.0% Wednesday.
• 5,751 active cases, up 226 from Wednesday.
• 19,992 recoveries, up 596 from Wednesday.
• 394 hospitalizations, up 36 from Wednesday.
• 82 cases on a ventilator, up three from Wednesday.
• 879 cumulative nursing home residents infected, up 20 from Wednesday.
• 303 cumulative cases in Garland County, up three from Wednesday.
• 8,613 test reports for Garland County, up 109 from Wednesday.
• 3.5% infection rate, no change from Wednesday.
• 64 active cases in Garland County, down seven from Wednesday.
• 236 recoveries in Garland County, up nine from Wednesday.
• Three deaths in Garland County, up one from Wednesday.
A COVID-19 death was reported in Garland County for the second day in a row, raising the county’s death total to three.
The 806 new cases reported statewide Thursday displaced Wednesday’s 734 cases as the second most reported in a single day. It’s the fifth time in 27 days and third time in eight days that new cases topped 700. The rolling seven-day average of new cases ticked down almost 2% despite Thursday’s jump, falling to 566.86 and 6.79% lower than the June 28 peak of 608.14.
The moving average fell as a result of the single-day high of 878 new cases reported July 2 falling outside the calculation.
“The case number is high, but at the same time it is high it is also predictable,” Hutchinson said of Thursday’s case count. “I told (Dr. Nate Smith, Health Department secretary) that I expected that as we increased testing you’re going to see the numbers go up today. That’s exactly what happened.
“Until we get a handle on it, as we increase testing, it’s not a surprise with these high numbers, but it’s a reminder of the work we have to do.”
For the fourth day in a row the state reported fewer test results during the 24 hours leading up to Thursday’s briefing than it did during June’s testing ramp up. The 4,734 test results were more than 25% below the daily number needed to meet the state’s goal of 200,000 in July.
Garland County’s testing numbers have also fallen off this week, dropping from more than 123.71 daily reports during the last full week in June and 277.86 daily reports last week to 70.25 during the first four days of this week. Hutchinson said a backlog of specimens from other states waiting to be processed at commercial labs has affected testing numbers.
“That’s the reason we’re not having some of the robust results that we would otherwise expect,” he said.
Smith said the Health Department considers state hospitals other than the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences as commercial labs, explaining that strains on the supply chain have made it difficult for them to source reagents for their testing platforms.
Hospitalizations increased by 36 Thursday, pushing the number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals to an all-time high of 394. Hospitalizations have increased almost 50% in a week and 567% in more than eight weeks.
The three new cases reported Thursday in Garland County lowered its rolling seven day average of new cases to 5.14, a 44.67% drop from the June 30 peak of 9.29. The county’s 64 active cases Thursday were 22.89% lower than July 3 peak of 83.
The Health Department’s nursing homes and congregate settings report listed 679 cumulative infections and 367 active infections Thursday among inmates in the Ouachita River Unit of the Arkansas Department of Correction in Malvern.