There were 12 new COVID-19 cases reported in Union County Tuesday by the Arkansas Department of Health, bringing the cumulative total of cases identified locally to 3,625. The cases in the county Tuesday included 2,801 confirmed cases, up seven from Monday, and 824 probable cases, up five from Monday.
The United States Centers for Disease Control considers positive results from PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests to be confirmed cases and positive results from antigen (rapid) tests to be probable cases.
Active cases fell by only one Monday, reversing a week-long trend of large decreases in the number of active cases each day; Danyelle McNeill, an ADH spokesperson, said Tuesday that could be related to the winter weather ending, making it easier for Arkansans to be tested for the virus.
“It’s certainly possible that (the winter weather clearing) is playing a role. We know that the weather reduced testing significantly last week,” McNeill said in an email. “We will have to watch the numbers this week to see how they compare with last week, both in terms of new cases and the number of tests.”
There were 48 active cases in the county Tuesday, representing 1.3% of all the cases identified locally and including 37 confirmed cases and 11 probable cases. There were 3,475 Union County residents considered recovered from the virus Tuesday, up 13 from Monday.
No new local deaths caused by COVID-19 were reported Tuesday. There have been 102 deaths attributable to the virus recorded in Union County. There were 95 people hospitalized Tuesday in the Southwest public health region of Arkansas, where Union County is located, including 31 in intensive care units and 13 on ventilator support.
The ADH reported 11 new negative test results returned from Union County Tuesday. In all, 29,223 COVID-19 test results have returned from Union County, including 25,598 negatives, indicating an overall local positivity rate of 12.4%.
Arkansas added 834 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday to its cumulative total, which reached 316,593. The cases in the state included 250,266 confirmed cases, up 419 from Monday, and 66,327 probable cases, up 415 from Monday.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson held his weekly COVID-19 update Tuesday, where he made several announcements regarding vaccine distribution and allocation.
Arkansans 65 or older are now eligible for vaccination against COVID-19, Hutchinson said, adding 165,000 people to the state’s vaccine eligibility rolls.
“We want to keep the demand for vaccinations active,” he said. “We want to make sure, as we make progress in the 70-plus (population), that we keep the lines filled, and moving (the eligibility age) to 65-plus makes sense.”
Hutchinson said the state will be allocated an additional 4,000 vaccine doses for the next three weeks starting next week. A federal partnership with retail pharmacies will also be allocated additional vaccine doses starting next week.
A third vaccine candidate, made by Johnson & Johnson, will be considered this week for emergency use authorization by the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as well. Hutchinson said the increased availability of vaccine doses played a part in his decision to lower the vaccination eligibility age.
“This does not mean that everybody 70 or older has been vaccinated, because they haven’t. We have largely vaccinated, and made available at least the first dose for our teachers. Our emergency workers have been vaccinated (and) those in the nursing homes,” Hutchinson said. “We’ve made broad swaths in progress … but there’s always more to do in those categories.”
Since mid-December, the state has been allocated 855,230 doses of the Pfizer and Moderna COVID vaccines, as of Tuesday afternoon. Of those, 534,479 had been administered to Arkansans.
Hutchinson said Tuesday it is still his goal for everyone in vaccination eligibility categories 1-A and 1-B, which include health care workers, nursing home residents, emergency personnel, teachers, frontline workers outside of health care and emergency settings and people over the age of 65, by the end of March.
“Now, we’re not necessarily ahead of schedule, and we have a lot of work to do to keep up with that schedule, but that still remains our goal,” he said.
Curtis Barnett, chief executive officer of Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield, joined Hutchinson at Tuesday’s update to announce a partnership between the insurance company and state to “vaccinate the Natural State.”
“We know there are high levels of hesitancy about getting the vaccine,” Barnett said. “We plan to take actions to overcome the hesitancy, concerns and access issues as vaccine supply increases.”
Barnett explained that the company has partnered with both business and community groups throughout the state to encourage Arkansans to take the COVID vaccine when they become eligible for it. He said the initiative will focus on both business and community engagement by providing education about the vaccines and communication toolkits to help those entities spread the word that the vaccines are safe and effective.
“We believe employers have crucial roles to play in building public confidence, overcoming hesitancy and providing access to vaccines,” Barnett said. “Our community engagement efforts will focus on all Arkansans, but especially those facing health disparities. We know that to successfully engage those underserved populations, the message must come from someone they trust, in a language and format they understand and the vaccines must be provided in a place where they feel comfortable and safe.”
He said business owners would be asked to take a pledge to do their part to end the pandemic, and all Arkansans are invited to participate in the “vaccinate the Natural State” initiative.
“By channeling our collective expertise … we will fuel a movement in our state that will result in a vast majority of eligible Arkansans being vaccinated so we can end the suffering and start the process of returning our lives back to a sense of normal,” Barnett said. “We invite everyone to join us in this movement as we vaccinate the Natural State.”
ADH Secretary Dr. Jose Romero said Tuesday that he is pleased with the progress the state is making in the fight against COVID-19. Death rates are declining in long-term care facilities, he said. However, Arkansans shouldn’t become complacent with the progress that’s been seen thus far.
“Remember to wear your mask, wash your hands and keep your distance,” Romero said. “It is easy to become fatigued about this disease. We are winning; we’re getting ahead of this. But we need to continue to use the masks. This is an effective way of preventing transmission. It works. Now is not the time to fall away from that habit that you have all developed and I want to encourage it.”
Active cases fell by 92 statewide Tuesday, dropping to 4,807; they represented 1.5% of all the cases identified in Arkansas and included 3,174 confirmed cases and 1,633 probable cases. There were 306,382 Arkansans considered recovered from the virus Tuesday, up 912 from Monday.
The deaths of 14 Arkansans that resulted from COVID-19 were reported Tuesday, bringing the state’s death toll to 5,377, indicating a state COVID mortality rate of 1.7%.
“We do see a decreasing number of new deaths. We look forward to the day that that will be zero,” Hutchinson said.
The governor also acknowledged the 500,000 COVID-related deaths that had been recorded in the United States by Monday afternoon, saying flags would be lowered to half-staff on state grounds this week in accordance with a presidential proclamation from President Joe Biden.
There were 545 Arkansans hospitalized Tuesday due to the virus, including 204 in ICUs and 99 on ventilator support.
“I know that this is a result of better therapeutics, but I also have confidence that the reduced hospitalizations has something to do with the vaccines that are available and have been administered in our elderly population,” Hutchinson said. “That is encouraging to see some positive results from even the vaccinations we’ve done thus far.”
The ADH reported 4,597 new COVID-19 test results returned Tuesday and 214,851 returned so far this month.
“You can see how the testing has slowed down. The testing has slowed down because demand has been reduced. We’re looking at creative ways with our resources to increase that testing,” Hutchinson said Tuesday.
Since the state began testing for the virus, 3,046,146 results have returned to the ADH, including 2,718,068 negatives, indicating an overall positivity rate for the state of 10.4%.
At 3:45 p.m. Tuesday, Johns Hopkins University reported 28,239,571 COVID-19 cases in the United States. Data wasn’t available then on the number of U.S. residents considered recovered from the virus or the number of active cases in the country. There had been 502,005 deaths attributable to the virus reported in the U.S. by Tuesday afternoon, indicating a national COVID mortality rate of 1.8%.
Johns Hopkins reported 111,974,905 COVID-19 cases worldwide Tuesday afternoon. There were 63,201,288 people considered recovered from the virus then, leaving 46,292,477 cases — 41.3% — active around the world. There had been 2,481,140 deaths attributable to the virus reported by Tuesday afternoon, indicating a global COVID mortality rate of 2.2%.