State covid deaths up by 207 for week

Hutchinson notes decline in cases

The state Health Department reported another 29 Arkansans have died from covid-19 Sunday, which brings the death toll over the past seven days to 207.

The total deaths from covid-19 in the state is now 6,674, according to Sunday’s report.

Health Department officials said Sunday afternoon that they could not confirm whether this was the deadliest week since the beginning of the pandemic.

New and active cases are down from last week, as Gov. Asa Hutchinson pointed out in his daily social media post about covid-19.

Covid-19 cases increased by 1,229 from Saturday’s report to 435,256. Washington County has the highest number of new cases at 130, followed by Pulaski County with 106 and Benton County with 85.

Active cases decreased by 343 within a 24-hour period, to 25,378, according to Sunday’s report. The latest report is 357 lower than last

Sunday’s active case number of 25,735, but still 5,640 higher than they were on Aug. 1.

Hutchinson spoke with host Jay Bir on KARK’s “Capitol View” on Sunday about what the state is doing about increasing covid-19 hospitalizations as well as mask mandates.

He said it’s not a good time to be sick in Arkansas but he feels more comfortable with hospital capacity than he did two weeks ago.

“… That’s because we’ve added bed space. Hospitals have been excellent in recruiting additional staff who can handle these new ICU beds,” Hutchinson said.

Hospitalizations increased by seven to 1,369, according to Sunday’s report. Hospitalization numbers fluctuated this past week, but are 44 less than last Sunday’s 1,413 reported hospitalizations.

Of those patients, 541 are in an intensive care unit. Patients on ventilators dropped by eight from Saturday, to 337, but still remain above last Sunday’s then-record high of 303.

The state is using money allocated through the American Rescue Plan to help hospitals recruit out-of-state medical professionals to help in the intensive care units as well as provide funds to help retain current hospital employees, Hutchinson said.

“We don’t want our current hospital personnel and nurses to be recruited to join these out-of-state teams, so we’re upping the funding for them,” he said.

As he has stated repeatedly over the past months, Hutchinson told Bir the focus needs to be on getting people vaccinated.

“Vaccinations are nearly the same as last Sunday, and this week we will continue our work to have a safe school year,” Hutchinson said in his daily social media post. “These vaccines are keeping people out of the hospital, and it’s so important to get the shot.”

Another 6,348 doses were given out, according to Sunday’s Health Department update, with 3,909 more Arkansans becoming fully immunized. Of those age 12 and up, 45.5% of the state’s population is fully immunized and 12.7% are partially so.

Bir asked Hutchinson about mask mandates and alluded to Act 1002, which Hutchinson signed after it was passed in April by the General Assembly to prohibit government agencies from requiring masks.

Hutchinson agreed with Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox’s ruling that the law is unconstitutional in that it violates the Arkansas Constitution by discriminating between public and private school students; however, it will be up to the Arkansas Supreme Court to make the final decision.

School districts need the flexibility to make their own decisions and protect their students, he said.

“It’s been amazing what the school districts have done in terms of thoughtfulness how they’ve reflected their communities on this, I believe, it’s majority of our students are in districts that do have a mask mandate of some kind and others have said they don’t need that,” he said. “It reflects the local decision making I think is important right now.”

Attorney General Leslie Rutledge appeared on “Capitol View” after Hutchinson and told Bir that it is her job to defend state law and represent the state of Arkansas.

Little Rock School District has been posting 72-hour covid-19 updates, but has upped its reporting as of Sunday to a daily report Monday through Friday and 48-hour report every Sunday, according to its website, lrsd.org.

The district reported 23 individuals on quarantine and five positive cases: one at Baseline Elementary and two each at Central High and Chicot Elementary, according to the 3 p.m. Sunday update.