COVID deaths up more than 50% in September, case numbers up 31%

by Talk Business & Politics staff ([email protected]) 888 views 

409 Arkansans died in September from COVID-19, according to figures from the Arkansas Department of Health, with the number of known cumulative cases rising more than 31% and the number of active cases up more than 26% in the month.

There were 1,223 COVID deaths in Arkansas on Sept. 30, up 50.2% from the 814 deaths on Sept. 1. There were 80,610 cumulative cases on Sept. 30, up 31.07% from the 61,497 on Sept. 1. The number of active cases was 6,373 on Sept. 30, up 26.5% from 5,036 on Sept. 1.

Wednesday’s (Sept. 30) ADH report also showed there are 83,697 known cumulative cases when combining the traditional PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test results with the quick-response antigen test results.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s statement on the ADH numbers reported Wednesday focused on the state’s positivity rate.

“Today’s numbers show a continued decline in our 7-day positivity rate with consistently high testing numbers each day. We have administered over 1 million COVID-19 tests since March and we have the infrastructure and supplies to increase our capacity as needed,” Gov. Hutchinson said.

COVID REPORT – Sept. 30
New known COVID-19 cases, active cases, tests
• 80,610 known cumulative cases, with 605 new community cases and 2 cases in correctional facilities
• 3,087 “probable” cases, up from 2,752 on Tuesday
• There are 6,373 active cases, down from 6,529 on Monday
• There were 8,184 test results provided in the previous 24 hours.
• There were 1,405 antigen tests in the previous 24 hours with 219 positives.

Deaths
• 1,223, up 19,
• 146 “probable” COVID-related deaths, unchanged

Hospitalizations
490, unchanged

Ventilators
93, down 4

Recovered cases
73,007

The top five counties with new known cases reported Wednesday were: Pulaski (51), Washington (43), Craighead (39), Benton (28), and Faulkner (26). The counties accounted for 31% of the 605 new community cases.

As of Wednesday at 4 p.m., there were 7,219,635 U.S. cases and 206,665 deaths. Globally, there were 33,799,264 cases and 1,010,381 deaths.