The Arkansas Department of Health on Wednesday reported 22 new COVID-19 cases in Union County, bringing the cumulative total of cases identified locally to 3,647.
The cases in the county Wednesday included 2,804 confirmed cases, up three from Tuesday, and 843 probable cases, up 19 from Tuesday. 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 rose for the first time in more than a week Wednesday, growing by five to reach 53; they represented 1.5% of all the cases identified locally and included 34 confirmed cases and 19 probable cases. There were 3,492 Union County residents considered recovered from the virus Wednesday, up 17 from Tuesday.
No new local deaths caused by COVID-19 were reported Wednesday. A total of 102 Union County residents’ deaths have been reported as resulting from the virus. There were 95 people hospitalized Wednesday in the Southwest hospital region of the state, where Union County sits, including 31 in intensive care units and 13 on ventilator support.
The ADH reported 90 new negative test results returned from Union County on Wednesday, a substantial increase from the number of test results returned from the county on any given day last week during the severe winter weather than kept much of the community inside.
In all, 29,335 COVID-19 test results have returned from Union County, including 25,688 negatives, indicating an overall local positivity rate of 12.4%.
Arkansas added 803 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday to its cumulative total, which reached 317,396. The cases in the state included 250,725 confirmed cases, up 459 from Tuesday, and 66,671 probable cases, up 344 from Tuesday.
Active cases dropped to 4,676 Wednesday, a decrease of 131 from Tuesday; they represented 1.5% of all the cases identified in Arkansas and included 2,986 confirmed cases and 1,708 probable cases. There were 307,306 Arkansans considered recovered from the virus Wednesday, up 924 from Tuesday.
The deaths of 10 Arkansans that resulted from COVID-19 were reported Wednesday, bringing the state’s death toll to 5,387, indicating a state COVID mortality rate of 1.7%. There were 545 Arkansans hospitalized Wednesday due to the virus, including 204 in ICUs and 99 on ventilator support.
The ADH reported 7,618 new COVID-19 test results returned Wednesday and 225,170 returned so far this month. Since the state began testing for the virus, 3,057,749 results have returned to the ADH, including 2,728,822 negatives, indicating an overall positivity rate for the state of 10.4%.
As of Wednesday, 553,004 doses of the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines had been administered in Arkansas. According to the ADH, the state has been allocated 887,090 doses.
At 4:45 p.m. Wednesday, Johns Hopkins reported 28,313,003 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 504,295 deaths attributable to the virus reported in the U.S. by Wednesday afternoon, indicating a national COVID mortality rate of 1.8%.
Johns Hopkins reported 112,409,584 COVID-19 cases worldwide Wednesday afternoon. There were 63,440,310 people considered recovered from the virus then, leaving 46,476,854 cases — 41.3% — active around the world. There had been 2,492,420 deaths attributable to the virus reported by Wednesday afternoon, indicating a global COVID mortality rate of 2.2%.