Covid deaths rise; hospital cases dipping

217 patients least since June; day’s infections reach 343

The number of covid-19 patients in Arkansas hospitals continued falling on Monday, with the number in intensive care reaching its lowest level in more than 10 months.

The state’s count of cases rose by 343, the fourth daily increase in five days that was larger than the one a week earlier.

However, Danyelle McNeill, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Health, said some of the cases added recently were from tests that were performed some time ago.

Dr. Jennifer Dillaha, the department’s chief medical officer, said Friday, for instance, that more than 200 cases from Garland County that were added to the statewide count that day were “old reports,” from before March, that had been faxed in by a laboratory.

McNeill said she didn’t have further details on Monday on other cases that were belatedly added to the state’s count.

Arkansas’ death toll from the virus, as tracked by the Department of Health, rose Monday by 28, to 10,950.

Dillaha said Monday that 24 of the most recently reported deaths happened within the past month.

Of the others, three happened in January, and one was from early February.

Dropping for the 10th day in a row, the number of covid-19 patients in the state’s hospitals fell by 26, to 217, its lowest level since June 16.

Already at its lowest level since June 13, the number who were on ventilators fell by three, to 42, its fifth straight daily decline.

The number who were in intensive care, dropping for the second day in a row, fell by 14, to 69, its lowest level since April 29.

The average daily increase in the state’s case count over a rolling seven-day period rose to 483, which was still down from an average of 507 a day a week earlier.

With recoveries and deaths outpacing new cases, the number of cases that were considered active fell by 221, to 1,914, the first time it had been below 2,000 since June 11.

“We’re continuing to move in the right direction,” Dillaha said Monday.

“We’re continuing to move in the right direction.” — Dr. Jennifer Dillaha, Arkansas Department of Health chief medical officer

At its hospitals in Little Rock and Springdale, Arkansas Children’s had four covid-19 patients on Monday, the same number as on Friday, spokeswoman Hilary DeMillo said.

She said two of the patients as of Monday were on ventilators, which was also the same number as on Friday.

All four of the patients were at least 5 years old, making them eligible for vaccination, but none had been fully immunized, DeMillo said.

‘STEALTH OMICRON’

In a weekly report, the Health Department said it had been notified of a total of 10 cases of BA. 2, a more- transmissible strain of the omicron variant, as of Saturday, up from eight as of a week earlier.

The subvariant is sometimes called “stealth omicron” because it lacks a genetic trait that helps distinguish cases caused by omicron from those caused by other variants.

According to the World Health Organization, BA. 2 doesn’t appear to cause severe illness more often than the original omicron strain.

Now the dominant strain of omicron worldwide, BA.2 accounted for an estimated 11.6% of coronavirus cases in the United States the week ending March 5, up from 6.6% the previous week, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

CASES BY COUNTY

Pulaski County had the most new cases, 38, on Monday, followed by Benton County with 33 and Lawrence County with 24.

The state’s cumulative count of cases since March 2020 rose to 826,913.

The Health Department’s tally of vaccine doses that had been administered grew by 315, the first daily increase in 10 days that was larger than the one a week earlier.

Booster shots made up about 41% of the most recent increase.

The count of first doses rose by 85, which was larger by one than the increase in first doses a week earlier.

After falling to its lowest level since the Health Department started regularly releasing vaccination numbers in January 2021, the average number of total doses administered each day over a rolling seven-day period rose Monday to 1,168, which was still down from an average of more than 1,400 a day a week earlier.

The average for first doses remained at a record low of about 402 a day.

According to the CDC, 66% of Arkansans had received at least one vaccine dose as of Monday, up from 65.9% as of Friday.

The percentage who had been fully vaccinated remained at 53.7%.

Of those who had been fully vaccinated, 38.2% had received a booster dose, a percentage that had changed since Friday.

Among the states and District of Columbia, Arkansas continued to rank 37th in the percentage of its residents who had received at least one dose and 46th, ahead of Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Wyoming and Alabama, in the percentage who had been fully vaccinated.

Nationally, 76.7% of people had received at least one dose, and 65.3% were fully vaccinated.

Of the fully vaccinated population nationally, 44.3% had received a booster dose.

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette