State’s eight new deaths from Covid include one from Eastern Arkansas
The number of Covid deaths across the state increased by eight on Tuesday, with one of those being a resident of Eastern Arkansas.
The Arkansas Department of Health’s report on cases throughout the state shows that Covid-related deaths in Monroe County increased by one this week, bringing the total number of deaths in that county to 18.
Since the beginning of June, the Eastern Arkansas area that in addition to St. Francis County includes Lee, Cross, Monroe, Phillips, Woodruff and Crittenden counties, has seen four more deaths due to the virus.
Throughout the pandemic, this region of the state has lost 304 of its residents to Covid, the ADH reports.
The ADH shows that Crittenden County has seen 97 deaths from the virus, which is the most in this region. The second highest number of deaths in the area is in Cross County where 50 people have died of virus complications, followed by St. Francis and Phillips counties which each report 44 virusrelated deaths. In Lee County, 37 people have died from the virus, and in Woodruff County, 14 people have died.
On Tuesday, the ADH reported 485 new virus cases, which is the largest one-day increase in over three months when the state reported 570 new cases on March 5.
Throughout the pandemic, the state has reported 346,180 cases, which includes 16,898 cases reported in this sevencounty region.
On Tuesday, the ADH said the state’s active cases increased by 251 to 2,570.
Since the beginning of June, this region of the state has seen 105 new virus cases, according to the state report.
The largest numbers of new cases so far this month are being reported in Crittenden County, with 29, and St. Francis County, with 28. Cross County has reported 16 new cases this month, and 15 new cases have been reported in Phillips County. Combined, Lee, Monroe and
Woodruff counties have seen an additional 17 new cases, with 11 of those being in Monroe County.
In late March, the state opened its vaccinations to everyone at least 16 years old and lifted its statewide mask mandate, but the state has had one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson, citing the latest increase, urges more people to get vaccinated to stop the spread of the virus.
About 41% of the state's population has received at least one dose of the vaccine and about 33% completed their vaccination, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
The CDC report shows that in St. Francis County, where the population is just under 25,000, at least one dose of the vaccine has been administered to 8,850 people 12 years of age or older, with 7,416 of those being fully vaccinated.
"Until we increase the number of shots, we will continue to have increased numbers of hospitalizations and new cases like we did today," Hutchinson tweeted. "It is sad to see someone go to the hospital or die when it can be prevented."
The ADH also shows that in this region, 16,539 people have recovered from the virus and 151,491 Covid tests have been performed.