COVID-19 hospitalizations fall below 1,000; active cases also decline

There were 1,892 COVID-19 cases reported Thursday (Jan. 28), well below the 3,106 reported the previous Thursday. Active confirmed and probable cases fell by 139 to 17,547, according to the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH).

The cumulative known confirmed and probable cases now stands at 290,856. Deaths rose by 42 to 4,784. Hospitalizations fell by 33 to 996, well below the record of 1,371 on Jan. 11. The ADH also reported 80 available ICU beds as of 2 p.m. Thursday, down from 85 on Wednesday.

“Today’s report shows over 1,200 fewer cases with higher testing than last week. The decline, as well as a decrease in active cases, shows good trends, but another day of over 40 deaths reminds us that this virus is still present in all corners of the state. We continue to work to slow the spread,” Gov. Asa Hutchinson said of Thursday’s report.

The Arkansas Center for Health Improvement also reported Thursday that 128 Arkansas school districts have COVID-19 infection rates of 50 or more new known infections per 10,000 district residents over a 14-day period, down from 175 a week ago. Of those districts, seven have 14-day COVID-19 infection rates of 100 or more new known infections per 10,000 district residents, or more than 1% of local residents, down from 22 districts last week.

COVID REPORT – Jan 28
New known COVID-19 cases, active cases, tests
• 232,338 known cumulative PCR cases, with 1,468 new community cases and 3 reported cases in correctional facilities
• 58,578 probable cases, up from 58,097 on Wednesday
• There are 12,171 active cases, down from 12,292 on Wednesday
• There were 10,326 test results provided in the previous 24 hours.
• There were 3,195 antigen tests in the previous 24 hours.

Deaths
• 3,864, up 25
• 920 probable COVID-related deaths, up 17

Hospitalizations
996, down 33

Ventilators
143, down 14

Recovered cases
216,277

The top five counties with new known cases reported Thursday were: Pulaski (303), Benton (229), Washington (177), Garland (129), and Faulkner (84). The counties accounted for 48.7% of the 1,892 new confirmed and probable cases.

As of Thursday at 4:30 p.m., there were 25,708,124 U.S. cases and 431,882 deaths. Globally, there were 101,253,267 cases and 2,184,718 deaths.