Arkansas virus cases up 2,122; state adjusts contact tracing strategy

Gov. Asa Hutchinson, right, speaks during his weekly coronavirus briefing, Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2020.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson, right, speaks during his weekly coronavirus briefing, Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2020.

Arkansas' count of coronavirus cases increased Tuesday by 2,122 — the third-highest one-day increase since the start of the pandemic.

Already at a record level, the number of patients hospitalized with covid-19 in the state rose by 14, to 988.

Those patients included 160 who were on ventilators, down from a record 164 a day earlier.

The state's death toll from the virus, as tracked by the Department of Health, rose by 18, to 2,405.

Meanwhile, at his weekly news conference on the pandemic, Gov. Asa Hutchinson said the state is no longer attempting to conduct contact tracing on cases where a specimen was collected more than six days earlier.

He cited a backlog of cases awaiting investigation as well as recommendations issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday for state health departments "experiencing surge or crisis situations around covid-19."

"We’re trying to utilize and maximize our resources to the best way possible," Hutchinson said.

He said the Health Department or its vendors still contact all people who test positive and give them instructions to isolate. But the department's vendors will not attempt to contact people who were in contact with the infected person if the test specimen was collected more than six days earlier.

In those cases, the case investigations are being conducted by a non-nurse employee. Nurses employed by the department or its vendors conduct case investigations for those whose test specimen was collected within the past six days.

Health Department Secretary Jose Romero said the change is expected to affect about 16% of the cases that are reported to the state.

Tuesday's increase in cases was just the fourth one that has topped 2,000.

The biggest increase was a jump of 2,312 cases on Nov. 13.

Read Wednesday's Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for the full story.

EARLIER

Gov. Asa Hutchinson and state health officials will provide an update on Arkansas' covid-19 response at 1:30 p.m.

The total number of coronavirus cases reported in Arkansas remained at 146,190 Tuesday morning, according to a state website. The death toll remained at 2,387.

Check back to watch the live video.

[Video not showing up above? Click here to view » https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16xLzI3z5GI]

Upcoming Events