NW Democrat-Gazette

Hospital cases rise for 2nd day; 11 more deaths

Governor presses for more 1st doses as well as boosters

ANDY DAVIS AND JAIME ADAME ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

After dropping below 400 over the weekend for the first time in more than three months, the number of people hospitalized with covid-19 in Arkansas rose Monday for the second day in a row.

The state’s case count rose by 161, the first daily increase in two weeks that was larger than the one a week earlier.

Arkansas’ death toll from the virus, as tracked by the state Department of Health, rose by 11, to 8,292.

“Active cases dropped by more than 1,000 since this time last week, and new cases reported slowed down significantly,” Gov. Asa Hutchinson said in a tweet.

“It will be important to monitor the incoming numbers after a busy weekend in Little Rock. Booster shots are expanding, but we also need to increase the first dose,” the governor said.

Also on Monday, a Health Department report showed active cases among students and employees at public elementary and secondary schools continuing to decline, with the number dropping below 1,000 for the first time this school year.

The number of covid-19 patients in the state’s hospitals rose by four, to 395, which was still less than a third of the all-time high it reached in August.

It was just the third time in more than a month that the number had risen.

The number of the state’s

virus patients who were on ventilators dropped for the third day in a row, going from 116 on Sunday to 113, its lowest level since July 14.

After falling the previous seven days, the number who were in intensive care rose by seven, to 178.

The number of intensive-care beds that were unoccupied fell by four, to 201.

People with covid- 19 made up about 18% of all the state’s intensive-care patients on Monday, up from about 17% a day earlier.

“We are definitely not through this pandemic yet,” said Jennifer Dillaha, the Health Department’s chief medical officer.

“I’ve often said that it’s like baseball — it’s not over ‘till it’s over.”

ACTIVE CASES FALL

The increase in cases Monday was larger by 19 than the one the previous Monday, when the state posted its smallest daily increase since June 21.

The average daily increase over a rolling seven-day period rose to 473.

With recoveries and deaths outpacing new cases, however, the number of cases in the state that were considered active fell by 515, to 4,912.

It was the first time the number was below 5,000 since July 6.

Dillaha said she was glad to see the drop in active cases and that the number of people hospitalized with the virus was still below 400.

But she noted that cases are surging again in the United Kingdom, where she said many people have stopped taking precautions to avoid catching the virus.

“If we also discontinue our practices of wearing masks and social distancing, we may see a delayed decline in our numbers,” she said.

One reason to keep exercising caution, she said, is the growing number of infections among people who are fully vaccinated.

According to the Health Department’s online dashboard, such breakthrough infections accounted for 20.6% of the state’s active cases as of Monday, up from 19.5% a week earlier and about 14% two months ago.

“It goes along with some of the studies that have been reported related to the boosters that were recently recommended,” Dillaha said.

Those include third doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has endorsed for people who received their second doses at least six months ago and are 65 or older, at risk of severe covid-19 or at high risk of catching the virus because of their jobs or living environment.

The CDC has also recommended boosters for anyone who received the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine at least two months ago.

“One of the rationales for offering the boosters, even though vaccines work very well keeping people out of the hospitals or keeping them alive, even people with mild breakthrough cases can have long- term complications from covid-19,” Dillaha said.

“It’s not as common, but [ when] you consider the numbers, it has a big societal impact.”

Breakthrough infections also cause people to miss work, she noted.

When they occur among people who live in congregate settings, such infections also require accommodations to isolate those who are infected.

“I think those considerations were also part of the decision for the [U.S. Food and Drug Administration] to authorize the boosters and the CDC to recommend them,” she said.

The number of breakthrough cases resulting in serious illness has also been increasing.

From Feb. 1 through Monday, such infections accounted for 11.2% of the state’s hospitalizations from covid-19 and 12.8% of its deaths, according to the dashboard.

That’s up from Aug. 10, when breakthrough cases accounted for 7.6% of the state’s covid-19 hospitalizations since Feb. 1 and 9.1% of its deaths since that date.

Dillaha said the state is working to provide boosters to prison inmates, homeless people and others who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

The supply of that vaccine has been constrained by problems at a plant in Baltimore where it’s manufactured.

Under the CDC’s recommendations, however, boosters can be the same vaccine the person originally received or either of the other two vaccines that have been authorized in the United States.

Dillaha said that’s “a good thing, since the number of doses available to us [ of Johnson & Johnson] is limited.”

SCHOOL CASES DOWN

At public elementary and secondary schools, the number of active cases among students and employees fell by 205, to 892, from Thursday to Monday, according to Health Department reports released twice a week.

The total was down by more than 80% compared with early September but still well above the levels seen this past spring.

The Bentonville and Rogers school districts tied for the most active cases on Monday, with 50 each.

Three other districts had 20 cases or more: Pulaski County Special School District, with 36; Blevins School District, with 23; and Mountain Home School District, with 20.

At private schools, the number of active cases rose by one, to 56, from Thursday to Monday, with the latest total including 15 at Harding Academy in Searcy.

Over the same period, active cases among college and university students and employees fell by 33, to 99, dropping below 100 for the first time this school year.

The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville topped all colleges on Monday, with 18 active cases.

Arkansas State University Chancellor Kelly Damphousse in a message to the campus Friday said covid-19 self-tests would be distributed to students and employees beginning Thursday at an on-campus vaccination clinic.

“Our goal is to allow students and employees who are symptomatic with a means for an early indicator test to screen for COVID-19,” Damphousse said.

Students and workers do not have to be vaccinated at the clinic to obtain a Binax self-test kit.

The university in Jonesboro wasn’t among those listed in the Health Department report as having five or more active cases as of Monday.

CASES BY COUNTY

Statewide, Pulaski County had the most new cases Monday, 28, followed by Benton County, which had 23, and Sebastian County, which had eight.

The state’s cumulative count of cases rose to 510,406.

Dillaha said eight of the deaths reported Monday happened within the past month. Of the others, one happened in December, one was in July and one was last month.

She said 6.3% of the state’s coronavirus tests were positive during the seven-day span ending Sunday, down from the 6.6% that was initially reported for the week ending Thursday and a high during the summer of 16.3% the week ending Aug. 4.

Hutchinson has said he wants to keep the percentage below 10%.

The number of people who have ever been hospitalized with covid-19 in the state grew by 23, to 27,417.

The number of the state’s virus patients who have ever been on a ventilator rose by one, to 2,884.

MORE WINNERS

According to the state Department of Finance and Administration, the number of people claiming winnings from lottery tickets distributed as rewards for getting shots rose last week after falling the previous four weeks.

Scott Hardin, a spokesman for the department, said 195 tickets were cashed in last week, up from 154 the previous week.

Hutchinson announced in late May that Arkansans who received a shot May 26 or after would be eligible for a $20 scratch-off ticket or a pair of gift certificates for hunting and fishing licenses worth a total of $21.

People can claim the rewards at vaccination clinics organized by the Health Department or the Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care or by taking their vaccination cards to one of the department’s local health units.

Health Department spokeswoman Katie White said 23,815 lottery tickets and 9,256 pairs of gift certificates had been handed out as of Monday.

Hardin said a total of 6,824 tickets had been cashed in as of last week.

So far, one person, a Texas man who had been visiting relatives in Arkansas, has won $1 million from one of the tickets, and one person has won $1,000.

The other winnings, in amounts ranging from $20 to $500, rose by $7,670 last week, to $296,550.

One more $1 million ticket remained in circulation in the game, known as the $1 Million Spectacular, along with one $50,000 prize and one $10,000 prize.

VACCINATIONS UP

At 2,488, Monday’s increase in vaccine doses providers reported administering was the third daily increase in a row that was larger than the one a week earlier.

The average number of doses administered each day over a rolling seven-day period rose to 6,200, its highest level since the week ending Oct. 13, but still down from a high during the summer of 13,361 a day the week ending Aug. 27.

Of the recent doses, about 48% were third doses.

First doses made up about 31% of the increase, with second doses accounting for the remaining 21%.

According to the CDC, 57.6% of Arkansans had received at least one vaccine dose as of Monday, and 47.7% were fully vaccinated.

In addition, 111,131 fully vaccinated people — amounting to 7.7% of the fully vaccinated population — had received booster doses.

Among the states and Washington, D.C., Arkansas continued to rank 37th in the percentage of its population who had received at least one dose.

In the percentage who were fully vaccinated, it ranked 42nd, ahead of Georgia, Louisiana, Tennessee, North Dakota, Mississippi, Alabama, Wyoming, Idaho and West Virginia.

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