Covid hospitalizations in Arkansas fall for 8th day in row

State’s covid case count up by 217; death toll climbs 12

Candace Priddy, a physician assistant for UAMS, administers a dose of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine Saturday, July 31, 2021, during a community wide, back-to-school event at Southwest High School in Little Rock. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Staci Vandagriff)
Candace Priddy, a physician assistant for UAMS, administers a dose of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine Saturday, July 31, 2021, during a community wide, back-to-school event at Southwest High School in Little Rock. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Staci Vandagriff)

The number of people hospitalized with covid-19 in Arkansas fell for the eighth straight day on Monday as the state's count of cases rose by 217.

The state's death toll from the virus, as tracked by the Department of Health, rose by 12, to 8,132.

In a tweet, Gov. Asa Hutchinson pointed to the percentage of the state's coronavirus tests that were positive as an indicator of the virus' slowing spread.

Health Secretary Jose Romero said the percentage over the seven-day span ending Sunday was 7.7%, down from the 7.9% that was initially reported for the week ending Tuesday and a high during the summer of 16.3% for the week ending Aug. 4.

"Our percent positivity continues to remain below 10%, and our new cases from today's report are some of the lowest we've seen since June," Hutchinson said.

"The recent reports are encouraging, but we can't stop our progress. Find a vaccine location near you this week."

Already at its lowest level since July 11, the number of virus patients in the state's hospitals fell Monday by three, to 545.

After falling the previous two days, however, the number of covid-19 patients who were on ventilators rose by three, to 164.

[CORONAVIRUS: Click here for our complete coverage » arkansasonline.com/coronavirus]

The number who were in intensive care fell for the fourth straight day, going from 260 as of Sunday to 259, its lowest level since July 17.

The number of beds in the state's intensive care units that were unoccupied rose by 11, to 120, with covid-19 patients continuing to make up about 24% of all the people in intensive care.

"I think we're definitely well into the downward slope after that surge" in cases over the summer, Romero said.

"Whether we maintain it or not is another question, and then there's always the question of whether the valley will be as low as it had been between March and June."

Covid-19 cases and quarantines prompted the Pulaski County Special School District to shift prekindergartners and fourth-graders at Harris Elementary School in North Little Rock to virtual instruction through Oct. 20, according to the state Department of Education.

That came as the district's School Board was set to discuss Tuesday night whether to continue to require students and employees to wear masks inside school buildings as a defense against the virus.

Meanwhile, Ouachita Baptist University on Thursday ended its indoor face covering requirement but said faculty members could still require masking in their classrooms.

The private university in Arkadelphia cited an absence of student covid-19 cases over the previous three weeks in an announcement addressed to students, faculty and staff.

The state's largest public universities, including the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, and Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, continue to require masks indoors.

SCHOOL CASES

Among students and employees at the state's elementary and secondary schools and higher education institutions, a Health Department report on Monday showed active cases continuing to decline.

At public school districts and charter school systems, the number fell by 248, to 1,317, from Thursday to Monday.

Health Department reports released twice a week have shown the number steadily declining after reaching an all-time high of 4,833 on Sept. 6.

Overall, since Aug. 1, 21,028 students and employees at public schools have tested positive for the virus.

The Springdale School District, the state's largest school system and one where face masks are optional, continued Monday to have the highest number of active cases, 56, although that was down from 70 as of Thursday.

The district has about 22,700 students in prekindergarten through 12th grades and 3,000 employees.

The Pulaski County Special district had the second-highest number of active cases, 39, which was up from 37 as of Thursday.

Other active case totals on Monday included 38 in the Bentonville School District, 37 in the Fort Smith School District, 35 in the Rogers School District, 32 in the Paragould School District and 29 in the Bryant School District.

The Cabot and Jonesboro school districts each had 27 active cases.

The Little Rock School District, the state's second-largest system, had 24.

In a report covering the three-day period ending at 3 p.m. Monday, the Little Rock School District said four students and two employees at five campuses had been diagnosed with covid-19.

Additionally, 34 students and one employee were required to quarantine after being near an infected person.

Twelve of the quarantined students were at Don Roberts Elementary School and five were at Cloverdale Middle School.

In all, 89 of the state's 262 districts and and charter school systems had five or more active covid-19 cases, down from 101 districts and charter school systems as of Thursday.

The state doesn't identify districts with fewer than five cases to protect patient privacy but the cases are included in the totals.

The number of active cases among students and employees at the state's colleges and universities fell by 32, to 154, from Thursday to Monday.

UA had the most, 39, which was down from 45 as of Thursday.

It was followed by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, which had 14, and Arkansas Tech University in Russellville, which had 13.

Private kindergarten- through-12th grade schools were listed as having 29 active cases among students and employees, down from 48 as of Thursday.

No private schools were identified as having five or more active cases.

MASKS RECOMMENDED

Monday's increase in cases was the smallest since the one the previous Monday, when the count rose by 195.

The average daily increase in the state's case count over a rolling seven-day period rose slightly, to 690, after falling slightly a day earlier.

The number of cases in the state that were considered active, however, fell by 707, to 6,889, as recoveries and deaths outpaced new cases.

It was the first time the number had been below 7,000 since July 10.

Although the state's new cases have been on the decline, Romero noted that they remain above the plateau of about 200 a day they reached in the spring.

"People should still take care when they go out," he said. "If you're indoors, you should wear a mask."

Those who haven't already gotten the vaccine should take it, he said, "because that's the way to protect yourself."

"There's still the possibility that we're going to see outbreaks at community gatherings and things like that," he added. "We're not over the hump yet for that."

Washington County had the most new cases on Monday, 21, followed by Benton County, which had 19, and Pulaski County, which had 18.

The state's cumulative count of cases rose to 503,089.

Romero said all of the deaths reported Monday happened within the past month.

The number of people who have ever been hospitalized in the state with covid-19 rose by 43, to 26,954.

The number who have ever been on a ventilator remained at 2,812.

VACCINATIONS DOWN

At 1,195, the increase in the department's tally of vaccine doses that had been administered, including second and third doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, was less than half the size of the increase the previous Monday.

The increase each day reflects doses that were reported to the department a day earlier.

"Our vaccination is not so great, but it was a Sunday," Romero said.

The average number of doses administered each day over a rolling seven-day period fell to 7,216, its lowest level since the week ending Sept. 30.

Of the most recently reported doses, 29% were first doses and almost 40% were second doses.

The remaining 31% were third doses, including booster shots of the Pfizer vaccine for people who received their second dose at least six months ago.

"We still have to press the issue of primary immunization, because that's what's really going to get us out of here," Romero said.

Healthy Connections, a federally funded community health center, said in a news release former Dallas Cowboys free safety Cliff Harris, an Arkansas native, will be promoting the vaccine from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. today at the center's clinic at 3604 Central Ave. in Hot Springs.

The clinic will be offering covid-19 vaccines and flu shots from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and providing free lunches from noon to 3 p.m.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 56.3% of Arkansans as of Saturday had received at least one vaccine dose, and 46.3% were fully vaccinated.

Nationally, 65.3% of people had received at least one dose, and 56.4% were fully vaccinated.

Information for this article was contributed by Jaime Adame of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

CORRECTION: The School Board for the Pulaski County Special School District was scheduled to discuss continuing a face covering mandate at its Tuesday meeting. An earlier version of this story inaccurately listed the date. Additionally, the Arkansas Department of Health reported that there were 39 active cases in the district Monday, up from 37 cases last Thursday. That information was imprecisely reported in an earlier version of this story.

Upcoming Events