There were 50 new COVID-19 cases reported in Union County by the Arkansas Department of Health Friday, bringing the cumulative total of cases identified locally to 2,926. The cases in the county included 2,286 confirmed cases, up 46 from Thursday, and 640 probable cases, up four from Thursday.
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.
One new local death caused by COVID-19 was reported Friday. Eighty people in Union County have now died as a result of the virus, indicating a local COVID mortality rate — the percentage of people who die after contracting the virus — of 2.7%.
Active cases in the county grew to 271 Friday, an increase of 28 since Thursday; they represented 9.3% of all the cases identified locally and included 227 confirmed cases and 44 probable cases. There were 2,575 Union County residents considered recovered from the virus Friday, up 21 from Thursday.
There were 215 people hospitalized due to COVID Friday in the Southwest hospital region of Arkansas, where Union County sits, including 80 in intensive care units and 28 on ventilator support.
The ADH reported 320 new negative test results returned from Union County Friday. In all, 23,930 COVID-19 test results have returned from Union County, including 21,004 negatives, indicating an overall local positivity rate of 12.2%.
In Arkansas, the addition of 3,124 new COVID-19 cases Friday brought the cumulative total of cases identified in the state to 267,635. The cases in the state included 216,339 confirmed cases, up 2,140 from Thursday, and 51,296 probable cases, up 984 from Thursday.
The number of active cases in the state grew by 873 to reach 25,613 Friday; they represented 9.6% of all the cases identified in Arkansas and included 17,933 confirmed cases and 7,680 probable cases. There were 237,729 Arkansans considered recovered from the virus Friday, up 2,216 from Thursday.
The deaths of 35 Arkansans that resulted from COVID-19 were reported Friday, bringing the state’s death toll to 4,263, indicating a state COVID mortality rate of 1.6%. There were 1,314 Arkansans hospitalized due to the virus Friday, including 434 in ICUs and 226 on ventilator support.
The ADH reported 16,694 new COVID-19 test results returned Friday and 194,570 tests performed so far this month. Since the state began testing for the virus, 2,556,090 results have returned to the ADH, including 2,279,325 negatives, indicating an overall positivity rate of 10.5%.
Since Dec. 14, 2020, approximately 124,156 doses of the Pfizer and Moderna COVID vaccines have been administered in Arkansas. In Union County, the Medical Center of South Arkansas, Melvin’s Discount Pharmacy and Walmart are carrying the vaccines.
At 3:15 p.m. Friday, Johns Hopkins University reported 23,461,685 COVID-19 cases in the United States. Data wasn’t available then on the number of U.S. residents considered recovered or the number of people with active cases in the country. There had been 390,809 deaths attributable to the virus reported by Friday afternoon, indicating a national COVID mortality rate of 1.7%
Johns Hopkins reported 93,604,952 COVID-19 cases worldwide Friday afternoon. There were 51,573,307 people considered recovered from the virus then, leaving 40,027,760 cases — 42.8% — active around the world. A new milestone was reached Friday as 2,003,885 deaths attributable to the virus were reported, indicating a global COVID mortality rate of 2.1%.