Arkansas' count of coronavirus cases rose Saturday by 1,183, continuing a four-day streak of more than 1,000 new daily cases, according to the state Department of Health.
The death toll from the virus, as tracked by the Health Department, rose by 15 to 1,797 total since the pandemic reached the state in March.
"Only a very few of those were in correctional facilities -- just 15," said state Epidemiologist Jennifer Dillaha of the new cases. "It's really a continued indication of widespread transmission of the virus in the community. It's something that we've been seeing for some weeks now. It's concerning because the daily numbers are consistently high, and they are gradually getting higher."
Including Saturday's numbers, the state has added 7,033 covid-19 cases in the past seven days.
A daily record was set Friday when the count of coronavirus cases rose by 1,337 -- the largest one-day state increase since the start of the pandemic and the first one that has topped 1,300. There were 1,202 cases added Thursday and 1,155 on Wednesday.
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The number of patients hospitalized Saturday with covid-19 fell by five to 619, with 242 in intensive care. The number of patients in the state ever hospitalized with covid rose by 29 to 6,707.
Hospitalized patients Saturday included 97 on ventilators, down from 95 a day earlier. There have been 808 total covid-19 patients in the state who required ventilator use since the pandemic began.
The increase in cases included 874 that were confirmed through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests. The other 309 were "probable" cases, which include those identified through less-sensitive antigen tests.
The state's cumulative case count rose to 105,318. That comprised 98,213 confirmed cases and 7,105 probable ones.
The number of confirmed or probable cases that were considered active rose by 406, to 9,535.
The state's count of confirmed and probable cases rose by 110 in Pulaski County; 78 in Washington County; 69 in Benton County; 65 in Craighead County; and 63 in Garland County.
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Despite the different classifications, the Health Department has said it treats confirmed and probable cases the same for the purposes of its contact-tracing efforts. That includes requiring people whose results are positive from either type of test to isolate themselves and for those they may have infected to quarantine.
"The community spread is mostly driven by person-to-person spread in social settings where social distancing and wearing face coverings does not take place," Dillaha said, adding that the department is seeing a large number of people at the same address with the virus.
"It's household spread of virus that was obtained in the community," she said.
Dillaha said the department is "not hearing very much right now" about cases tracked to retail stores. The stores are under a state mandate to require shoppers to wear masks and encourage social distancing.
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"We're seeing that a larger number of people that are infected have been to restaurants," Dillaha said. "But that doesn't mean that they got infected at the restaurant. We're looking into it to make sure that there's nothing that we're missing."
Sporting events and other extracurricular activities at schools also are producing more new cases, she said. She added that social events, like family reunions and birthday parties, have been traced as the source of some of the virus spread.
Places of worship are seeing spikes in cases, Dillaha said.
"Interestingly some churches we see clusters and in other types of churches we don't see any," she said. "It has to do with how well they are adhering to the recommendations."
Churches are excluded from Gov. Asa Hutchinson's executive order on March 26, which limited gatherings, but in the Health Department Guidance document, churches "are strongly encouraged to continue to offer online platforms for worship."
The guidance encourages churches to require masks, to take the temperatures of congregants and to screen for symptoms or exposure before congregants enter the building.
Once inside, church members should always wear masks and maintain social distancing, according to the Health Department guidelines.
Churches are especially vulnerable to the virus because singing is "known to be an efficient spreader," Dillaha said.
"It aerosolizes the virus," she said. "Singing without wearing face masks is an important risk factor."
Dillaha said the department is collecting data and preparing a report on church cases. The report should be completed by Tuesday, she said.
Heath Loftis, pastor of Park Avenue Baptist Church in Stuttgart, said the church is holding in-person worship services and Sunday School with a usual crowd of around 80.
The church has not had a virus case since the pandemic began, Loftis said. Arkansas County has had a cumulative 655 cases of the virus.
"We take precautions. We have hand sanitizer at the door, and we wear masks," Loftis said.
Loftis said his church has streamed worship services on Facebook for the past two years, so the transition at the beginning of the pandemic in March was seamless.
"We did parking lot services for about three or four weeks, and then we went back to services in our sanctuary," he said. "Every other pew is set off, making it easy for our church family to social distance. We also sanitize and clean before each Sunday School class."
Loftis said in-person services offer more to fill spiritual and emotional needs than a livestream.
"It's just not the same," Loftis said. "The mental health aspect of it alone is important. The lack of human contact leads to loneliness and depression. I feel certain this pandemic will eventually lead to a mental health crisis."
Loftis said his pastoral duties of visiting the sick and elderly, as well as gospel outreach have been hampered.
"I can't make hospital visits. We have a 102-year-old World War II veteran in a nursing home here, and I can't go visit him," he said. "I'm trying to tinker with ideas and find different ways to meet the needs. Each church has a very unique response to this virus. Some are probably no doubt in debt and having a hard time."
Dillaha said unnecessary trips in public right now should be avoided with the current high rates of community spread.
"If you encounter situations where they're not social distancing and there are not masks, you just need to leave. People should remove themselves from that situation," she said.
While Halloween is her family's favorite holiday, Dillaha said she encourages everyone to celebrate at home.
"As much as my family enjoys it, I've made the decision to not do trick or treats for the children in my neighborhood," she said. "I wish it were otherwise, but in my opinion this is the best way to show that I care."
