COVID-19 hospitalizations set new daily record; active cases decline in schools and universities

With total cumulative COVID-19 cases approaching 100,000 in Arkansas, Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Monday (Oct. 19) he is hoping for a reversal of the trend in recent weeks in which new reported cases rose above 1,000 each day later in the week.

New known COVID cases reported Monday totaled 531 – including those confirmed by PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests and antigen tests – to reach a cumulative total of 99,597, according to the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH). The number of hospitalized rose by 41 to reach 613, a new record for the closely-watched metric.

“We saw another decrease in new cases yesterday, and I am hopeful that the cases will stay low through the week. I applaud our students and educators for reducing the active cases in our schools. Let’s stay vigilant, and while cases usually go up in the next four days, let’s remember that it is up to each of us to do our part to help slow this virus and protect ourselves, our family, and our neighbors,” Gov. Hutchinson said in a statement.

The ADH report did show declines in cumulative active cases in all public and private schools and in colleges and universities between the Oct. 15 and Oct. 19 reports. Following are some of the numbers from the Oct. 19 report.

• Public schools (as of Oct. 19)
Cumulative active cases: 879, down from 890 on Oct. 15
Cumulative cases: 7,027, up from 6,597 on Oct. 15

• Private schools (as of Oct. 19)
Cumulative active cases: 77, down from 87 on Oct. 15
Cumulative cases: 425, up from 394 on Oct. 15

• Colleges and universities (as of Oct. 19)
Cumulative active cases: 436, down from 453 on Oct. 15
Cumulative cases: 5,534, up from 5,253 on Oct. 15

COVID REPORT – Oct. 19
New known COVID-19 cases, active cases, tests
• 93,790 known cumulative PCR cases, with 399 new community cases and 35 cases in correctional facilities
• 5,807 “probable” cases, up from 5,710 on Sunday
• There are 7,450 active cases, down from 7,621 on Sunday
• There were 8,918 test results provided in the previous 24 hours.
There were 803 antigen tests in the previous 24 hours with 138 positives.

Deaths
• 1,562, up 10
• 152 “probable” COVID-related deaths, unchanged

Hospitalizations
613, up 41

Ventilators
99, up 2

Recovered cases
84,770

The top five counties with new known cases reported Monday were: Pulaski (53), Craighead (45), Washington (25), Sebastian (24), and Benton (23). The counties accounted for 42.6% of the 759 new community cases.

As of Monday at 1:30 p.m., there were 8,177,148 U.S. cases and 219,880 deaths. Globally, there were 40,240,700 cases and 1,115,907 deaths.