COVID-19 update

EDITOR’S NOTE: As a service to our readers, The Sentinel-Record publishes updates released by the city of Hot Springs and the state of Arkansas.

The following stats were posted Thursday on the Arkansas Department of Health website:

• 71,614 cumulative confirmed cases, up 883 from Wednesday.

• 687.14 rolling seven-day average of new confirmed cases, up 69.28 from Wednesday.

• 855,321 PCR test reports, up 10,632 from Wednesday.

• 8.4% cumulative PCR infection rate, no change from Wednesday.

• 1,597 cumulative probable cases, up 109 from Wednesday.

• 20% cumulative antigen infection rate, up from 19.4% Wednesday.

• 6,100 confirmed and probable active cases, up 189 from Wednesday.

• 65,941 recoveries of confirmed and probable cases, up 794 from Wednesday.

• 383 hospitalizations, down four from

Wednesday.

• 1,018 confirmed deaths, up eight from Wednesday.

• 148 probable deaths, up one from Wednesday.

• 72 cases on a ventilator, up seven from Wednesday.

• 1,680 cumulative confirmed cases in Garland County, up 23 from Wednesday.

• 16.71 rolling seven day average of new confirmed cases, up 1.71 from Wednesday.

• 26,557 PCR and antigen test reports, up 505 from Wednesday.

• 23,098 private lab reports, up 137 from Wednesday.

• 3,459 public lab reports, up 368 from Wednesday.

• 6.3% cumulative PCR infection rate, down from 6.4% Wednesday.

• 130 active confirmed cases in Garland County, up 10 from Wednesday.

• 1,508 recoveries of confirmed cases in Garland County, up 13 from Wednesday.

• 42 confirmed deaths in Garland County, no change from Wednesday.

• Five probable deaths in Garland County, no change from Wednesday.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson issued the following statement on Thursday’s coronavirus numbers:

“The increased use of antigen point-of-care testing is encouraging. This shows our investment in point-of-care testing is helping address the new demand for rapid tests on our K-12 and college campuses. Today’s report includes almost 10,000 tests between the PCR tests and the antigen tests.

“Of course, this means we identified new cases, and this will allow our more than 770 contact tracers to do their work and reduce the spread of the virus. Right now, we are concentrating on identifying communities that have an increased level of spread and encouraging stricter compliance with our health guidelines.”