Covid cases increased 160 in area during June

CDC reports SFC vaccination rate 35.8%

The number of active coronavirus cases in this region of Eastern Arkansas climbed by 160 during June, with the number of people reported as having recovered from the illness increasing by 159.

On Wednesday, Arkansas reported its largest one-day increase in Covid cases in four months, which Gov. Asa Hutchinson said was being fueled by the delta variant of the virus.

"The high number of cases today makes it clear that the delta variant is increasing the spread of the virus," Gov. Asa Hutchinson tweeted Wednesday afternoon. Hutchinson, however, said the good news is that the state reported more than 10,000 new vaccinations.

The state reported 686 new virus cases on Wednesday, bringing its total since the pandemic began to 349,385. The state's active cases, meaning those that do not include people who have recovered or died from the virus, increased by 398 to 3,763.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, 16,953 people throughout St. Francis, Lee, Cross, Monroe, Phillips, Crittenden and Woodruff counties have been diagnosed with Covid. Of that number, the Arkansas Department of Health reports 16,576 people have recovered from the illness across the region.

To date, Covid has claimed the lives of 305 people in this area of the state, which is an increase of five over the past month. The ADH reports two new deaths from Covid in Lee County, with one each in Monroe, Phillips and Cross counties.

Arkansas has had one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country. Nearly 42% of the state's population has received at least one dose of the vaccine and about 34% have completed their vaccination, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC shows that each county in this region of the state has fewer than half its eligible population vaccinated against the virus.

The CDC report shows that in St. Francis County, 35.8% of the total population has received at least one dose of the vaccine with 30.1% being fully vaccinated. However, the vaccination rate in the county for

those 65 or older shows that in SFC, 72.3% in this age group have received at least one dose of the vaccine with 63.5% fully vaccinated.

The vaccination rate in Lee County shows that 26.8% have received one dose and 22.8% are fully vaccinated.

Monroe County is leading the area in the number of residents receiving the vaccination. In that county, the CDC reports 42.1% of residents have received one dose with 34.1% fully vaccinated.

Woodruff County is just behind Monroe County’s vaccination rate with 41.8% of its residents having received one dose and 37.2% fully vaccinated.

In Cross County, 35.7% of residents have had one dose of the vaccine, with 30.9% fully vaccinated. The CDC shows that in Phillips County, 34.1% of residents have received one dose with 29.5% fully vaccinated. Crittenden County has 24.6% of its population fully vaccinated against the virus, with 30.1% having received one dose of the vaccine.

Residents in this area are continuing to be tested for the virus. Over the past month, the ADH reports 153,426 tests for Covid have been conducted throughout the seven-county region, which is an increase of 4,769.