Hospitalizations top 600 to set new record; active cases rise in public schools and universities

COVID-19 hospitalizations jumped above 600 in Monday’s (Oct. 12) report from the Arkansas Department of Health. The number of active cases and Arkansans on ventilators also rose, with total known cumulative cases topping 93,000.

Hospitalizations rose by 32 to tally 608. The number of total cases – those confirmed by PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests and antigen tests – was 93,487 on Monday, up 654 from Sunday.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson said the rising number of people in hospitals is straining the system but said hospitals around the state have enough beds.

“Our hospitalizations continue to be at a high level. This puts stress on our healthcare workers. While we have sufficient bed capacity in our hospitals, this does strain the system. This is why we need to work together to reduce our cases and reduce our hospitalizations,” he said in a statement accompanying the release of Monday’s COVID numbers.

The ADH also updated the number of cumulative and active cases in educational sectors. The number of active cases were higher in public and private schools and colleges and universities compared to the Oct. 8 report. Following are some of the numbers from the updated report.

• Public schools (as of Oct. 12)
Cumulative active cases: 831, up from 828 on Oct. 8
Cumulative cases: 6,150, up from 5,699 on Oct. 8

• Private schools (as of Oct. 12)
Cumulative active cases: 76, up from 57 on Oct. 8
Cumulative cases: 349, up from 309 on Oct. 8

• Colleges and universities (as of Oct. 12)
Cumulative active cases: 417, up from 369 on Oct. 8
Cumulative cases: 4,987, up from 4,664 on Oct. 8

COVID REPORT – Oct. 12
New known COVID-19 cases, active cases, tests
• 88,870 known cumulative cases, with 545 new community cases and 23 cases in correctional facilities
• 4,617 “probable” cases, up from 4,531 on Sunday
• There are 6,929 active cases, up from 6,867 on Sunday
• There were 9,089 test results provided in the previous 24 hours.
• There were 705 antigen tests in the previous 24 hours with 116 positives.

Deaths
• 1,438, up 17
• 148 “probable” COVID-related deaths, unchanged

Hospitalizations
608, up 32

Ventilators
104, up 5

Recovered cases
80,469

The top five counties with new known cases reported Monday were: Pulaski (80), Washington (57), Sebastian (33), Craighead (32), and Benton (27). The counties accounted for 42% of the 899 new community cases.

As of Monday at 2 p.m., there were 7,781,980 U.S. cases and 214,925 deaths. Globally, there were 37,627,440 cases and 1,078,597 deaths.