COVID-19 update
EDITOR’S NOTE: As a service to our readers, The Sentinel-Record publishes updates released each weekday by the city of Hot Springs and the state of Arkansas.
The following stats were shared Monday at Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s daily COVID-19 news conference in Little Rock and posted on the Arkansas Department of Health’s website:
• 33,927 cumulative cases, up 699 from Sunday.
• 432,816 test reports, up 7,359 from Sunday.
• 7.8% rate of infection, no change from Sunday.
• 7,127 active cases, up 108 from Sunday.
• 26,397 recoveries, up 545 from Sunday.
• 363 deaths, up six from Sunday.
• 471 hospitalizations, up 18 from Sunday.
• 111 cases on a ventilator, up six from Sunday.
• 1,042 cumulative nursing home residents infected, up 17 from Friday.
• 499 cumulative cases in Garland County, up 26 from Sunday.
• 10,591 test reports for Garland County, up
220 from Sunday.
• 4.7% rate of infection, up from 4.6% Sunday.
• 164 active cases in Garland County, up 14 from Sunday.
• 330 recoveries in Garland County, up
12 from Sunday.
• Five deaths in Garland County, no change from Sunday.
The 26 new cases reported Monday in Garland County raised its rolling seven-day average of new cases for the 11th day in a row, pushing Monday’s number to a new peak of 22.57. Monday was the sixth straight day the county’s moving average reached a new peak.
The average has increased almost
200% in a week and 143% since the start of the month. Positive tests as a percent of last week’s total testing was 11%. The county’s positivity rate during the first 20 days of the month was 7.5%. This month’s rise in new cases has increased the cumulative rate of infection more than 25% since the end of June.
Active cases have also risen sharply, with a new peak of 164 reported in the county Monday. It was the fifth straight day active cases reached a new peak. The number has risen 134% in a week.
Garland was one of 11 counties with 20 or more new cases reported Monday.
“That indicates there is a lot of spread of COVID-19 across various parts of Arkansas and not just congregated in one area,” Hutchinson said. “We see the number of new cases flattening out, but it’s at a very high level of flattening out.”
The 699 new cases reported statewide Monday raised the state’s rolling seven day average for a second straight day, bumping Monday’s number to 712.57. The average dropped to 667 Saturday, when the single-day high of 1,061 new cases reported July 11 fell outside the calculation.
The single-day high pushed the moving average to a peak of 745.86 July 14.
Hospitalizations fell over the weekend but climbed to a new peak Monday with 471 COVID-19 patients in hospitals and 111 requiring mechanical ventilation. The previous peak was Thursday’s 470. Hospitalizations have risen 62% since the end of June, and ventilator usage has increased 66%.
Hutchinson’s executive order mandating face coverings took effect Monday. He reminded people there are exceptions to the directive. They include people working in jobs where social distancing isn’t possible and the safe and effective performance of their duties would be inhibited by a face covering.
“We recognize that there’s people who are working hard in very tough industries,” he said. “We want everyone to be socially distanced. If you can’t wear a mask, if it’s going to compromise your own safety, obviously common sense has to dictate in those circumstances.”
Hutchinson said wearing a mask is a courtesy to others.
“It still surprises me as to how many people think wearing a mask is about protecting yourself,” he said. “It’s really about helping your neighbor. It’s about being together as a state, working together to try to get through this pandemic.”
The Health Department’s nursing homes and congregate settings report listed 1,228 cumulatively infected inmates in the Ouachita River Unit of the Arkansas Department of Correction in Malvern. Of those, 792 are active. The report listed 33 staff with active infections and three inmate deaths.