COVID cases set another daily record; hospital execs warn of ‘COVID fatigue’

With the number of daily COVID-19 cases on Wednesday (Nov. 11) reaching another new record, two Northwest Arkansas hospital administrators issued warnings about “COVID fatigue” and a “concerning” community spread of the deadly virus.

The Arkansas Department of Health on Wednesday reported 1,962 confirmed and probable new COVID cases, bringing the known cumulative total to 126,197. The new cases surpass the previous record of 1,870 set Nov. 6. Confirmed and probable deaths rose by 14 to 2,126.

There were nine fewer hospitalizations, bringing the number down to 801 from Tuesday’s record of 810. The number of COVID patients on ventilators fell by 11 to 116.

Larry Shackleford, president of Fayetteville-based Washington Regional Medical Center, and Eric Pianalto, president of Mercy Hospital Northwest Arkansas in Rogers, said the region is seeing a rise in cases and hospitalizations.

“This summer we accounted for almost 30% of the state’s cases and we’ve been holding steady at 18% for a while now. This has been a great reflection of the community’s commitment to doing the things we need to to combat the virus. While we’ve remained steady, the recent increase in hospitalizations and community spread is concerning,” Shackleford noted in a statement.

Pianalto said area hospitals have seen a 36% increase in hospitalizations since Nov. 6.

“We are concerned that with COVID fatigue, going into colder weather and the holidays that people will relax the safety practices that help combat the virus,” Pianalto said. “I’ve had to have tough conversations with my own family members about not being able to have our traditional large holiday gatherings this year. It’s difficult not to be able to see our loved ones like we once did but the risk of contracting the virus is too great. Especially for those that are older or with underlying health conditions. We’ve seen hard situations with the COVID-19 patients in our hospitals. Large gatherings just run up the risk of becoming gravely sick or worse.”

COVID REPORT – Nov. 11
New known COVID-19 cases, active cases, tests
• 113,943 known cumulative PCR cases, with 972 new community cases and 3 cases in correctional facilities
• 12,254 probable cases, up from 11,499 on Tuesday
• There are 10,399 active cases, up from 10,105 on Tuesday
• There were 9,390 test results provided in the previous 24 hours.
• There were 2,247 antigen tests in the previous 24 hours with 654 positives.

Deaths
• 1,940, up 13
• 179 probable COVID-related deaths, up 1

Hospitalizations
801, down 9

Ventilators
116, down 11

Recovered cases
101,583

The top five counties with new known cases reported Wednesday were: Pulaski (172), Benton (144), Garland (136), Washington (121), and Sebastian (116). The counties accounted for 58.7% of the 1,173 new community cases.

As of Wednesday at 3:30 p.m., there were 10,353,604 U.S. cases and 240,688 deaths. Globally, there were 51,857,776 cases and 1,278,280 deaths.