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.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson held his weekly press update Tuesday in Little Rock. The following stats were posted Tuesday on the Arkansas Department of Health website:

• 84,203 cumulative confirmed cases, up 532 from Monday.

• 603.86 rolling seven-day average of new confirmed cases, up 7.15 from Monday.

• 1,087,671 PCR test reports, up 8,527 from Monday.

• 7.7% cumulative PCR infection rate, down from

7.8% Monday.

• 3,841 cumulative probable cases, up 109 from Monday.

• 18.1% cumulative antigen infection rate, down from 18.7% Monday.

• 529 hospitalizations, up five from Monday.

• 1,321 confirmed deaths, up 22 from Monday.

• 148 probable deaths, no change from Monday.

• 99 cases on a ventilator, up six from Monday.

• 2,003 cumulative confirmed cases in Garland County, up five from Monday.

• 14.28 rolling seven-day average of new confirmed cases, down 0.58 from Monday.

• 34,808 PCR and antigen test reports for Garland County, up 172 from Monday.

• 27,374 private lab reports, up 150 from Monday.

• 7,434 public lab reports, up 22 from Monday.

• 5.8% cumulative PCR infection rate, no change from Monday.

• 129 active confirmed cases in Garland County, down 31 from Monday.

• 1,825 recoveries of confirmed cases in Garland County, up 33 from Monday.

• 49 confirmed deaths, up one from Monday.

• Five probable deaths, no change from Monday.

The net increase of five hospitalizations reported Tuesday put the number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals at an all-time high. The 529 reported Tuesday surpassed the previous peak of 526 Aug.

4.

Dr. Jose Romero, Health Department secretary, said the increased admissions are a product of the spike in new cases that developed after the Labor Day weekend. Hospitalizations have increased by one-third since Labor Day.

“What we’re seeing, we believe, are the aftereffects of the large number of cases we saw around the Labor Day weekend,” Romero said. “I don’t think it will continue. I think we’ll see a decrease as this wave, if you will, passes.”

Hutchinson said the state has ample capacity to absorb the admissions surge

“We do have adequate hospital space,” he said. “There is sufficient room for the cases. We’re not in a most difficult circumstance, but we want to see those numbers go down over time.”

The new directive for nursing home visitation the Health Department issued Tuesday expanded indoor visitation for facilities that haven’t had a positive case in 14 days. Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention guidelines limit expanded visitation to facilities without a positive test in 28 days, but Hutchinson said the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services shortened the timeline.

“We have to have some of that visitation under medically necessary circumstances and when there’s been no positivity for 14 days,” he said. “This should enhance the visitation opportunities. It doesn’t make it perfect. It’s still a protected environment. This is a directive from CMS that we needed to act on at the state level to have access by family members.”

The CDC’s Nationwide Commercial Laboratory Seroprevalence Survey estimated 4.3% of Arkansans had coronavirus antibodies as of August. The survey uses blood samples submitted to commercial labs for reasons unrelated to the virus, such as routine medical care.

The CDC wants to collect 50,000 blood samples every two weeks until next August. Arkansans contributed more than 900 to the August survey. Extrapolating the 4.3% of samples with antibodies, the survey estimated 129,000 state residents had been infected by the end of the August. The Health Department reported more than 61,000 cumulative confirmed cases at the end of August.

“These antibodies do not indicate an individual is protected,” Romero said. “There’s no definite proof that having these antibodies in this test is protective in any way. Seroprevalence tests tell us who’s been infected but does not tell us anymore.”

Fewer than 10 new confirmed cases were reported in Garland County for a third-straight day. The five reported Tuesday were the fewest since Sept. 5, lowering the county’s rolling seven-day average of new confirmed cases for a seventh-straight day. Tuesday’s 14.28 average was more than 40% lower than the previous Tuesday’s.

The 129 active confirmed cases reported in the county Tuesday were the fewest since Sept. 21.