Arkansas sees virus cases tick up by 302

Arkansas’ count of coronavirus cases rose Friday by 302 — the fourth daily increase in a row that was bigger than the one a week earlier.

The number of people hospitalized in the state with covid-19 rose by nine, to 291, its highest level since March 10. The state’s death toll from the virus, as tracked by the state Department of Health, rose by three, to 5,893.

“The overwhelming majority of COVID patients in the hospital have not been vaccinated,” Gov. Asa Hutchinson said in a tweet.

“These vaccines are effective, but we need more Arkansans to get the shot.”

Also Friday, state officials announced that, for the first time since Arkansas’ first case was diagnosed in March 2020, the state won’t be releasing updated information on the virus — such as the number of cases, deaths and hospitalizations — to the public on Saturdays and Sundays, starting today.

“The [U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] is no longer requiring health departments to send them numbers over the weekend, so the Health Department made the decision not to run the numbers over the weekend and give the epidemiologists a break,” state Epidemiologist Jennifer Dillaha said Friday.

As to the effect of that decision on public awareness of the virus’s spread in the state, she said, “We have taken that into consideration.”

“There were probably other factors involved in the decision,” Dillaha said.

“I was not part of that, so I do not know what the other factors were.”

She said the department won’t be releasing a summary of the numbers on weekends or updating its online dashboard of coronavirus information.

The numbers for Saturday and Sunday will be released Monday, she said.

The increase in cases Friday, while larger by 26 than the one the previous Friday, was the smallest since a spike of 485 cases Tuesday.

“I’m hoping that’s a good sign,” Dillaha said.

The state’s count rose by 389 Wednesday and 383 Thursday.

On the other hand, Dillaha said 8.5% of the coronavirus tests performed on Arkansans over the previous seven days were positive.

That was up from 8.2% in the seven days ending Wednesday and the highest percentage over a seven-day period since February.

Hutchinson has said he wants to keep the percentage below 10%.

After rising the previous three days, the number of covid-19 patients in Arkansas who were on ventilators fell by three, to 67.

The number who were in intensive care remained at 125.

Already at its highest level since the week ending March 17, the average daily increase in the state’s cases count over a rolling seven-day period rose by about four, to 290.

With new cases outpacing recoveries, the number of cases in the state that were considered active rose by 61, to 2,911, its highest level since March 14.

Visitors Restricted

Dillaha has said she suspects the fast-spreading delta variant, first discovered in India, is responsible for Arkansas’ recent uptick in cases.

The variant, along with low vaccination rates, has also been blamed for a surge in cases and hospitalizations in southwestern Missouri.

Baxter County, which borders Missouri, had 21 new cases Friday, which was tied with Saline County for the second-largest number of new cases in the state after Pulaski County, which had 77.

Washington County had the third-highest number, 18.

Citing the rise in cases, Baxter Regional Medical Center in Mountain Home announced Friday that it had stopped allowing visitors in its emergency department “to ensure the health and safety of all patients, their family, and Baxter Regional staff.”

According to the hospital’s website, patients in other areas are allowed two visitors age 12 and older.

“The safety of our patients is our top priority,” hospital CEO Ron Peterson said in a news release.