COVID-19 update

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

The following stats were shared Wednesday at Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s daily COVID-19 news conference in Little Rock and posted on the Arkansas Department of Health’s website:

• 3,192 confirmed cases statewide, up 81 from Tuesday.

• 45,743 test results, up 5,114 from Tuesday.

• 7% infection rate, down from 7.7% Tuesday.

• 1,249 recoveries, up 103 from Tuesday.

• 59 deaths, up seven from Tuesday.

• 93 cases requiring hospitalization, down 11 from Tuesday.

• 219 nursing home residents infected, up nine from Tuesday.

• 18 cases on a ventilator, down two from Tuesday.

• 115 cases in Garland County, up one from Tuesday.

• 2,096 test results from Garland County, up 154 from Tuesday.

• 5.5% rate of infection, down from 5.9% Tuesday.

• 79 recoveries in Garland County. Hutchinson’s announcement that restaurants can begin a phased resumption of dine-in service May 11 followed the state’s worst 24-hour period for COVID-19 deaths. The seven deaths reported Wednesday surpassed the four reported April 11 and 16, bringing the total to 59. Dr. Nate Smith, Health Department secretary, said nursing home residents have accounted for about a third of the deaths.

As of presstime Wednesday, no COVID-19 deaths have been reported in Garland County.

Hospitalizations reached their lowest point since April 21, trending down for a second-consecutive day to 93. The 109 reported Monday was the high point since the state’s first COVID-19 case March 11. Smith said all of the 81 new cases reported Wednesday were outside of the Cummins Unit of the Arkansas Department of Correction. Inmates in the Lincoln County prison represent more than a quarter of the 3,192 cases statewide.

Wednesday marked the third-consecutive daily increase of infections outside of correctional facilities, growing from 60 Monday and 74 Tuesday. Hutchinson said officials will monitor daily trends as the May 11 easing of dine-in restrictions approaches. Restaurants can operate at a third of their occupancy during the initial phase, and staff and patrons will be required to wear masks.

“That’s obviously a concern any time you see cases going up,” he said. “We’ll watch it over a period of time. When you set a date that businesses count on, they’re investing in that date. You don’t move it unless you have absolutely no recourse.”

Active cases fell for a second-consecutive day to 1,884, falling from Monday’s high of 1,980. They doubled over a seven-day period that began April

19 largely because of the outbreak in the Cummins Unit. The active case number reflects total cases minus deaths and recoveries.

One new case was reported for Garland County Wednesday, bringing its total to 115. The rate of positive tests as a percent of the more than 2,000 tests conducted on Garland County residents is

5.5%, less than the 7% rate statewide.

The next reported case in the county will double the 58 reported April 8. County infections took nine days to double from the 29 reported March

30 but haven’t had a subsequent doubling in three weeks. In contrast, infected people who have recovered more than doubled in two weeks from the

39 reported April 15 to the 79 reported Wednesday. Specimens collected and tested from county residents surpassed 2% of the county’s population of roughly 100,000. Hutchinson said Tuesday that the 2% threshold won’t be crossed statewide until next month.