The Arkansas Department of Health reported 46 new COVID-19 cases in Union County Sunday, almost as many cases as were reported through the entirety of last week, bringing the cumulative total of cases identified locally to 3,708.
Of the new cases, 16 were confirmed cases, determined by positive PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test results, of which 2,835 total have been identified locally; and 30 were probable cases, determined by positive antigen (rapid) tests, of which 873 total have been identified locally.
Active cases fell by three Sunday to reach 50; they represented 1.3% of all the cases identified locally and included 37 confirmed cases and 13 probable cases. There were 3,558 Union County residents considered recovered from the virus Sunday, up 51 from Saturday.
Two COVID-related deaths were removed from the total reported for Union County Sunday. The ADH did a “data clean up” on Sunday, department spokesperson Danyelle McNeill said, which is why the deaths were removed. Some were “reclassified” for a variety of reasons, she said, and some were recognized to be duplicate reports.
As a result, the number of recorded local residents‘ deaths resulting from COVID dropped to 100 Sunday.
There were 80 people hospitalized due to the virus Sunday in the Southwest hospital region of the state, where Union County is located, including 30 in intensive care units and 10 on ventilator support.
The ADH reported 221 new negative test results returned from Union County Sunday. In all, 29,762 COVID-19 test results have returned from Union County, including 26,054 negatives, indicating an overall local positivity rate of 12.5%.
Arkansas added 3,220 new COVID-19 cases Sunday to its cumulative total, far surpassing the new case totals reported over the last two weeks. According to the ADH, of the new cases reported, only 288 were from Sunday, and the remaining 2,932 occurred before Feb. 14.
The cumulative total of cases identified in the state grew to 322,415. The cases in the state Sunday included 254,030 confirmed cases, up 2,004 from Saturday, and 68,385 probable cases, up 1,216 from Saturday.
Active cases in the state fell by 84 Sunday to reach 4,399; they represented 1.4% of all the cases identified in Arkansas and included 2,939 confirmed cases and 1,460 probable cases. There were 312,758 Arkansans considered recovered from the virus Sunday, up 3,490 from Saturday.
The state removed 174 COVID-related deaths from the total reported Saturday, which was 5,417; as a result, the state’s death toll dropped to 5,243 Sunday, indicating a state COVID mortality rate of 1.6%. There were 455 Arkansans hospitalized Sunday due to the virus, including 183 in ICUs and 85 on ventilator support.
The ADH reported 5,505 new COVID-19 test results returned Sunday. In February, a total of 267,999 results returned to the ADH. Since the state began testing for the virus, 3,158,864 results have returned to the ADH, including 2,823,855 negatives, indicating an overall positivity rate for the state of 10.2%.
At 4:45 p.m. Sunday, Johns Hopkins University reported 28,594,583 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 513,052 deaths attributable to the virus reported in the U.S. by Sunday afternoon, indicating a national COVID mortality rate of 1.8%.
Johns Hopkins reported 113,986,374 COVID-19 cases worldwide Sunday afternoon. There were 64,379,512 people considered recovered from the virus then, leaving 47,077,869 cases — 41.3% — active around the world. There had been 2,528,993 deaths attributable to the virus by Sunday afternoon, indicating a global COVID mortality rate of 2.2%.