COVID-19 update
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 Monday at Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s daily COVID-19 news conference in Little Rock and posted on the Arkansas Department of Health’s website:
• 39,447 cumulative cases, up 824 from Sunday.
• 484,981 test reports, up
7,714 from Sunday.
• 8.1% infection rate, no change from Sunday.
• 6,674 active cases, up 74 from Sunday.
• 32,365 recoveries, up 743 from Sunday.
• 489 hospitalizations, up nine from Sunday.
• 408 deaths, up seven from Sunday.
• 110 cases on a ventilator, up seven from Sunday.
• 1,136 cumulative nursing home residents infected, up nine from Friday.
• 695 cumulative cases in Garland County, up 43 from Sunday.
• 12,399 test reports for Garland County, up 375 from Sunday.
• 5.6% rate of infection, up from 5.4% Sunday.
• 457 recoveries in Garland County, up 25 from Sunday.
• Five deaths in Garland County, no change from Sunday.
The single-day high of 43 new cases reported Monday in Garland County continued the brisk pace of new infections reported over the last two weeks.
Monday’s count raised the county’s rolling seven-day average to 28, slightly below Friday’s 28.57 peak. The moving average fell to 25.57 Sunday after 10 new cases were reported. It’s risen 263% in two weeks.
Sunday ended a 10-day streak of 20 or more new reported cases. It also stopped a
10-day run of growth in active infections, but Monday’s reported cases pushed the county’s active infections to a new peak of 233. Active cases have increased 229% in two weeks. The county’s cumulative infection rate has grown 56% over that time.
The Health Department’s Friday nursing homes and congregate settings report listed
14 infected residents and 17 infected staff members at Hot
Springs Nursing and Rehabilitation — a Waters Community, 552 Golf Links Road. The same numbers were listed in Monday’s report.
Monday’s report showed 583 actively infected inmates and 33 actively-infected staff at the Ouachita River Unit of the Arkansas Department of Correction in Malvern. Nine of the facility’s inmates have died from the virus.
The 824 new cases reported statewide Monday pushed the state’s rolling seven-day average of new cases to a new peak of 788.57, a slight rise from the previous peak of 783.86 Friday.
Hutchinson announced the release of $10 million from the state’s federal coronavirus relief funding to buy 20,000 wireless internet access points and data plans for school children. The agreement with AT&T and T-Mobile provides 24 months of high-speed unlimited data for each device.
“They’ll be able to utilize that access in their home environment, so they won’t have to sit around the bus or go to McDonald’s or some other place to try and have access and do their homework,” he said. “Twenty-thousand units will be distributed. We’ll see how far that goes across the state. It will cover a lot, but it can be supplemented by local funds because the carriers have been asked to provide the same price breaks to local districts.”
He said $1 million in federal relief has been set aside to stockpile protective equipment schools can use when they open next month.
“We have about four weeks until then, so let’s reduce our cases,” he said. “We want to work hard to wear our masks. We want to comply with health guidelines so that we can set a good example for our students. We can prepare them for school but also reduce the spread in our communities and make our schools a safer place to be.”
Hutchinson said the Health Department ordered 200 point-of-care, rapid testing machines. The antigen-testing machines detect proteins from the virus. The more common polymerase chain reaction test detects the virus’ genetic material.