The Arkansas Department of Health reported nine new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Union County Thursday, bringing the cumulative number of cases identified locally to 532.
Of those, 456 were considered recovered Thursday, an increase of 31 from Wednesday, the most significant jump in the number of local residents considered recovered yet. There remained 57 active cases, down 22 from Wednesday and representing 10.71% of the cumulative number of cases identified in Union County.
No new local deaths attributable to the virus were reported Thursday. Nineteen Union County residents have died as a result of the virus, two of whom were reported to have died as a result of the virus just this week.
New COVID-19 cases were reported at two nursing homes in Union County Thursday. At Timberlane Health and Rehab, seven new resident cases and two new worker cases were reported, with the most recent test results for those new cases returning on Aug. 13; in all, eight residents and eight workers have tested positive for the virus, with at least one resident having died as a result of it. Hudson Memorial Nursing Home also reported one worker case Thursday.
No changes were reported at other congregate living facilities in the community where COVID-19 cases have been identified. Those include Advanced Health and Rehab of Union County, where three workers have tested positive; and Community Living Arrangements, where nine residents and four workers have tested positive.
The online COVID-19 dashboard administered by the ADH, which provides local data on COVID-19 testing, was not updated by press time Wednesday. Over the two-day period from Tuesday to Thursday, the ADH reported 59 new negative test results and 24 new cases, indicating a positivity rate of 28.91% over that two day period based on the number of results and cases reported.
In all, 5,088 COVID-19 test results have returned from Union County, with 4,556 negatives, indicating an overall local positivity rate of 10.45%.
Arkansas’ number of confirmed COVID-19 cases grew by 652 Thursday to reach 52,766 total cases in the state. Of those, 44,602 were considered recovered, leaving 6,582 cases — 12.47% — active statewide.
The deaths of nine Arkansans that were a result of COVID-19 were reported Thursday, bringing the state’s death toll to 582, indicating a state COVID mortality rate of 1.1%. Thirteen fewer Arkansans were hospitalized because of the virus Thursday; there were 473 hospitalized altogether due to the virus on Thursday. There were 112 Arkansans on ventilator support Thursday, down one from Wednesday.
Governor Asa Hutchinson announced the release of a new “Healthy School Guide” Thursday, which was created through a partnership between the Arkansas Department of Education, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and Arkansas Children’s Hospital. It includes tips for parents, teachers and children on ways to help stop the spread of COVID-19 once public school resumes Aug. 24. It’s available to read on the ADE’s Division of Elementary and Secondary Education website in the Ready for Learning section under COVID-19 information.
By the time Hutchinson delivered his daily COVID-19 press conference Thursday, 5,192 COVID-19 test results had returned to the ADH since his previous press conference, indicating a one-day COVID-19 positivity rate for the state of 12.55% based on the number of new cases and results reported. There had been 67,416 COVID-19 test results returned in August by then.
Since the state began testing for COVID-19, 583,480 results have returned to the ADH, with 531,714 negatives, indicating an overall positivity rate for the state of 9.04%.
At 6 p.m. Thursday, Johns Hopkins University reported 5,242,184 COVID-19 cases in the United States. Of those, 1,755,225 were considered recovered, leaving 3,319,988 cases — 63.33% — active nationwide. There had been 166,971 deaths attributable to the virus in the U.S. by Thursday afternoon, indicating a national COVID mortality rate of 3.18%.
Johns Hopkins reported 20,739,537 COVID-19 cases worldwide Thursday afternoon. Of those, 12,895,242 were considered recovered, leaving 7,092,385 cases — 34.19% — active around the world. There had been 751,910 deaths attributable to the virus by Thursday afternoon, indicating a global COVID mortality rate of 3.62%.