COVID-19 hospitalizations and patients on ventilators reach new daily records

COVID-19 hospitalizations and ventilations hit new record highs, and the number of school districts with high community infection rates jumped from 88 to 117. Arkansas’ former Surgeon General said the state is moving “into a bad place” with respect to COVID spread.

The Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) on Wednesday (Nov. 25) reported a rise of 40 COVID hospitalizations, pushing the total to a record of 1,028. COVID patients on ventilators rose by 31 to a record 190. Total cumulative confirmed and probable cases rose by 1,965 to 150,277, and confirmed and probable deaths rose by 20 to 2,425.

Also on Wednesday, the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement reported that 117 Arkansas school districts have had 50 or more new known COVID-19 infections per 10,000 district residents over a 14-day period, up from 88 a week earlier. Of the 117, eight districts had more than 100 new known infections per 10,000 district residents over a 14-day period, or more than 1% of district residents. This is up from seven districts a week earlier.

“These numbers indicate that we are moving into a bad place as we head into the holiday season,” ACHI President and CEO and the state’s former Surgeon General Dr. Joe Thompson said in a statement. “To get us moving in the right direction, we all need to assume personal responsibility. Wash your hands often, maintain at least 6 feet of distance from people who are not members of your immediate family, and wear a mask — #BeSmartNotAfraid!”

COVID REPORT – Nov. 25
New known COVID-19 cases, active cases, tests
• 132,249 known cumulative PCR cases, with 1,347 new community cases and 76 cases in correctional facilities
• 18,028 probable cases, up from 17,486 on Tuesday
• There are 13,227 active cases, up from 13,352 on Tuesday
• There were 13,572 test results provided in the previous 24 hours.
• There were 3,752 antigen tests in the previous 24 hours.

Deaths
• 2,227, up 19
• 199 probable COVID-related deaths, up 1

Hospitalizations
1,028, up 40

Ventilators
190, up 31

Recovered cases
116,777

The top five counties with new known cases reported Wedneday were: Pulaski (185), Washington (145), Benton (121), Craighead (101), and Sebastian (99). The counties accounted for 48.3% of the 1,347 new community cases.

As of Wednesday at 1 p.m., there were 12,662,857 U.S. cases and 260,869 deaths. Globally, there were 60,101,887 cases and 1,416,112 deaths.