The Arkansas Department of Health added two new COVID-19 cases Tuesday to Union County’s cumulative total of cases, which reached 3,729. Both were new confirmed cases, determined by positive PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests, of which 2,838 have been identified locally. Probable cases stayed steady at 891 Tuesday.
Active cases dropped further Tuesday, down by 13 to reach 37; they represented 1% of all the cases identified locally and included 25 confirmed cases and 12 probable cases. There were 3,592 Union County residents considered recovered from the virus Tuesday, up 15 from Monday.
No new local deaths resulting from COVID-19 were reported Tuesday. A total of 100 Union County residents have died as a result of the virus. There were 62 people hospitalized Tuesday due to the virus in the Southwest hospital region of the state, where the county sits, including 23 in intensive care units and seven on ventilator support.
The ADH reported 93 new negative test results returned from Union County Tuesday. In all, 29,894 COVID-19 test results have returned from Union County, including 26,165 negatives, indicating an overall local positivity rate of 12.5%.
Arkansas added 440 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday to its cumulative total, which reached 322,949 as a result. The cases in the state included 254,353 confirmed cases, up 225 from Monday, and 68,596 probable cases, up 215 from Monday.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson gave his weekly COVID-19 update Tuesday, where he announced a new category of people eligible to be vaccinated against the virus. Effective immediately, food manufacturing workers, including meat processors and grain and oilseed millers, are eligible to receive one of the vaccines, he said.
“The reason we feel comfortable in adding this condition is because if you look at this month with our vaccines coming in, we’re on schedule and we need to stay on schedule with this group,” he said.
Hutchinson did note that there is a possibility the state won’t meet its goal of completing vaccinations for everyone in eligibility category 1-B, which includes those 65 years or older, educators and school staff at every level and essential workers including food and agricultural workers, manufacturing workers, grocery store workers, public transit workers, postal workers, some government workers and correctional facility staff.
“If you look at all of 1-B … that’s estimated to be 520,000 people still remaining to be vaccinated. If you look at the fact that we are getting, conservatively, 82,000 doses per week and we have four weeks left in March, that would be 328,000 doses that we’re going to receive versus 520,000 that needs to be vaccinated,“ he said.
However, he noted the recent approval of a third vaccine by Johnson & Johnson (also referred to as the Janssen vaccine), of which he said 24,000 doses will be shipped to Arkansas this week. ADH Secretary Dr. Jose Romero pointed out several advantages the Janssen vaccine has over the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, specifically its ability to be stored at room temperature and the need for only one dose per person. Romero said the Janssen vaccine has been proven to prevent death and the need for hospitalization.
“That Johnson & Johnson vaccine is what’s going to give us an extra margin that we can move in and start with our poultry workers and other food manufacturing workers that have been identified,” Hutchinson said.
As of Tuesday, the state had been allocated 1,066,980 doses of the Pfizer and Moderna-brand vaccines; of those, 91,070 doses were part of a federal partnership with retail pharmacies like Walmart and Walgreens and of which 43,647 doses, or 47.9%, have been administered, while 975,910 doses were part of the state’s vaccine distribution program and of which 609,055 doses, or 62.4%, have been administered.
“We’re making progress step-by-step, and so hopefully that’s a word of encouragement for those in the 1-C category that at some point in April we want to get to you, and if the (vaccine) supply increases, we’ll get to that sooner,” Hutchinson said.
He said members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force told him Tuesday that the vaccine supply nationwide would increase by 700,000 doses, meaning Arkansas will soon receive an additional 2,500 to 3,000 doses each week.
The ADH will soon begin holding mass vaccination clinics, he said, starting with one each week in one county per public health region. The first in the Southwest region will be held in Dallas County, where Fordyce is located. Eventually, the state would like to set up a toll free hotline; Hutchinson said more information would be provided as details are set in stone.
“Don’t let anything stop you from getting your vaccine. No out of pocket money is required,” he said.
He said about 50% of Arkansans 70 or older have been fully vaccinated, and 24.7% have received their first dose. He encouraged everyone eligible to be vaccinated as soon as they can be.
“I think (the percentage of people above 70 who have been vaccinated) shows some resistance to the vaccine that we need to overcome. We want to make sure we continue to encourage those who are in the right age group, the right criteria, to get the vaccination,” he said. “It’s critically important for our entire success in ending this pandemic.”
Romero agreed, reiterating that once 70% of Arkansans have been vaccinated, the state will have achieved herd immunity.
“When available, take advantage of being able to get that vaccine,” Romero said.
The governor also announced Tuesday that the ADH and United States Centers for Disease Control had verified that at least one case of the United Kingdom (UK) COVID variant had been discovered in Arkansas.
“This is a result of our surveillance testing, working with the CDC, that identified this UK variant. This is not a surprise to us. We expected the UK variant to be here; it’s just simply a matter that it’s been documented,” Hutchinson said. “It’s a reminder that we have to be cautious. We have to remind ourselves the virus is in here, and what the scientists say about the UK variant is that it is more contagious, and for all those reasons, let’s continue to adhere to the guidelines and let’s do everything we can to get vaccinated so that we can be safe.”
Romero said that due to the UK variant’s increased transmissibility, it will be important for Arkansans to continue to wear face coverings, even if the governor’s mandate is lifted at the end of the month.
“It simply reminds us that we need to use the mask, regardless of if it’s mandated. We need to keep these masks and use them,” Romero said. “It also reinforces the need to immunize. Without immunization, we won’t be able to protect against these variants. The vaccines that we currently have available are effective against this UK variant.”
Department of Education Secretary Johnny Key also spoke during the update, congratulating Arkansas schools on successful wrestling, swimming and diving seasons and wishing them well as basketball teams enter their tournament season.
“With all the good news that we have now about our case counts, this is no time for us to let up, especially in our schools. Our in-school case numbers are reflecting the positive trends in the community and we want that to continue,” Key said. “I would encourage all of our schools, personnel, parents and our students to continue the good work that you’ve been doing so that we can continue to have a successful school year and end this school year with optimism that going into next year we’ll be going into what we all hope will be a normal school year across the state.”
The number of active cases in the state grew by 12 Tuesday to reach 4,254; they represented 1.3% of all the cases identified in Arkansas and included 2,827 confirmed cases and 1,427 probable cases. There were 313,426 Arkansans considered recovered from the virus Tuesday, up 424 from Monday.
The deaths of four Arkansans that resulted from COVID-19 were reported Tuesday, bringing the state’s death toll to 5,254, indicating a state COVID mortality rate of 1.6%.
“Were always saddened by those deaths but were very glad that that number is so much less than it has been in previous weeks,” Hutchinson said.
There were 416 Arkansans hospitalized Tuesday due to the virus, including 160 in ICUs and 80 on ventilator support. Hutchinson said the decrease in hospitalizations are an indicator of the state making progress in the fight against COVID.
“There’s some significant good news here, particularly on the hospitalizations. You can see our hospitalizations have declined (by) another 25 (people) and the vents (usage) are down as well,” he said. “We’re at one of the lowest points in hospitalizations since August.”
The ADH reported 4,994 new COVID-19 test results returned Tuesday. Hutchinson noted that testing has stayed low since the severe winter weather hit last month.
“Our testing is modest,” he said. “We like to see it higher, but that’s just a reality of where we are today.”
Since the state began testing for the virus, 3,169,449 results have returned to the ADH, including 2,833,889 negatives, indicating an overall positivity rate for the state of 10.2%.
At 3:45 p.m. Tuesday, Johns Hopkins University reported 28,704,758 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 515,985 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 114,697,519 COVID-19 cases worldwide Tuesday afternoon. There were 64,773,834 people considered recovered from the virus then, leaving 47,379,030 cases — 41.3% — active around the world. There had been 2,544,655 deaths attributable to the virus reported by Tuesday afternoon, indicating a global COVID mortality rate of 2.2%.