COVID-19 cases in Arkansas set another daily record

Friday’s (Dec. 4) report from the Arkansas Department of Health posted the second consecutive day of record new known confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases (2,827), with active cases rising by 923 to 18,012.

One good number in the report was the decline in hospitalizations from 1,072 to 1,041. Total cumulative confirmed and probable cases totaled 167,137, and total confirmed and probable deaths rose by 31 to 2,586.

“Yesterday saw another record day of new cases. We also lost 31 Arkansans yesterday to COVID-19. We are at a critical point in combating this virus as we continue to see record numbers of new cases each day. This battle will not be won by the actions of a few; it will take each Arkansan doing our part to win this fight,” Gov. Asa Hutchinson said in a statement with the release of Friday’s numbers.

Also, the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement reported Thursday that 94 Arkansas school districts have had 50 or more new known COVID-19 infections per 10,000 district residents over a 14-day period, down from 117 a week earlier. The infections are among community residents living within the geographical boundaries of the school districts and are not specific to school employees and students.

COVID REPORT – Dec. 4
New known COVID-19 cases, active cases, tests
• 144,910 known cumulative PCR cases, with 2,150 new community cases and 38 reported cases in correctional facilities
• 22,227 probable cases, up from 21,588 on Thursday
• There are 13,608 active cases, up from 12,822 on Thursday
• There were 13,451 test results provided in the previous 24 hours.
• There were 2,701 antigen tests in the previous 24 hours with 647 positives.

Deaths
• 2,370, up 27
• 216 probable COVID-related deaths, up 4

Hospitalizations
1,041, down 31

Ventilators
191, up 1

Recovered cases
128,911

The top five counties with new known cases reported Friday were: Washington (260), Benton (228), Pulaski (210), Craighead (146), and Saline (117). The counties accounted for 44.7% of the 2,150 new community cases.

As of Friday at 4 p.m., there were 14,282,494 U.S. cases and 277,958 deaths. Globally, there were 65,669,150 cases and 1,514,387 deaths.