The number of covid-19 patients hospitalized reached the lowest number seen in more than two months, according to data released Monday from the Arkansas Department of Health.
On Monday, 889 patients were hospitalized with the virus, a drop of 24 from the previous day. The lowest number seen previously was 861 on Nov. 16.
"We continue to see a decline in active cases, with over 1,100 fewer than this time last week. Over 422,000 tests were performed in the month of January, and there are over 7,200 fewer active cases than on January 1," said Gov. Asa Hutchinson in a written statement. "We are seeing the effects of our combined efforts of vaccine distribution, mask wearing, and social distancing. Some positive trends have started to emerge, but we cannot use this as a reason to relax in following the guidelines."
State Epidemiologist Jennifer Dillaha said the lower numbers say that Arkansans are taking the precautions seriously to help reduce the spread of the virus.
"This decline is welcomed news, yet it remains important to be vigilant. We all need to follow the guidelines like wearing a face covering, maintaining social distance, washing hands and avoiding gatherings with people outside of your household," Dillaha said. "It will also be important for people to get vaccinated when it's their turn. There are still a lot of cases of covid-19 in Arkansas, and we need to all take steps to continue to bring them down."
Dillaha said there has been no confirmation that any of the covid-19 variants have arrived in the state.
Strains of the mutated virus were discovered in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil and have spread to other countries, including the United States.
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The variants seem to spread more easily and quickly than the original covid-19 virus, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Dillaha said some cases in the state that are believed to be a possible variant were submitted for testing. All have been negative so far, but others are pending test results.
"While we cannot identify the variant conclusively in Arkansas, two labs in state can identify a genetic sequence that can present itself in the U.K. variant," Dillaha said. "Positive samples that match this characteristic and have a high viral load have been selected for further testing out of state."
VACCINATION DISTRIBUTION
More supplies of the covid-19 vaccine will be delivered to pharmacies and hospitals around the state this week to continue providing doses to those in the first part of Phase 1-B, which is for education personnel and individuals 70 or above, Dillaha said.
The distribution is working well and Arkansas compares favorably with other states in terms of percent of population vaccinated and percent of doses used, Dillaha said.
"We remain limited by the amount of vaccine coming into the state. It is still not enough to meet the demand, but we are hopeful that the weekly allocation will continue to increase in the near future," she said. "Johnson & Johnson may also seek emergency use authorization soon for their new vaccine. If it is ultimately authorized, that would bring additional vaccine supply into the state, which would be welcomed."
As of Monday, a total 520,000 vaccine doses have been received since the first shipment arrived in the state on Dec. 14.
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There have been 310,513 vaccines administered during that same time.
Part of those totals includes 49,400 doses allocated since Dec. 28 for CVS and Walgreens drug stores through the Long Term Care Federal Program. Of those, only 34.3% -- or 16,943 doses -- have been administered.
St. Bernards Healthcare on Monday began taking vaccination appointments for those in Phase 1-B. Eligible applicants must reside within the Jonesboro hospital's service area in northeast Arkansas.
"The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted older populations particularly hard, and we believe we must do whatever we can to help, whether a person has a patient history with us or not," St. Bernard's administrator, Michael Givens, said in a news release. "While we still have limited available doses, we encourage any northeast Arkansas resident aged 70 or older to contact us for an appointment."
The hospital set up an online registration process -- at https://stbernardshealthcare-ptklb.formstack.com/forms/covid_vaccine_70_community -- as well as a dedicated call center to take appointments.
The vaccines will be administered at St. Bernards Auditorium, located at 505 E. Washington Ave. in Jonesboro.
PHARMACY CLINIC
Pharmacist Jennifer Walling said Horseshoe Health & Medicine received 100 more doses of the vaccine on Monday and is holding a vaccine clinic today .
The drug store had signed up to administer the vaccine in November and its first vaccine shipment of 100 shots of the Moderna vaccine was delivered Jan. 23.
Walling said the pharmacy team and a group of volunteers -- led by retired nurse Vicki Deno -- had developed a plan for the vaccine clinic months ago and were ready to go when the vaccine finally arrived.
They set up a makeshift clinic last week at Horseshoe Bend United Methodist Church and guided the patients from one station to the next -- beginning with filling out forms and ending with 15 minutes of observation for any adverse effects to the shot.
"We had people calling and wanting on our list," Walling said. "Once we actually physically received the vaccine, we started calling them and set up appointments for the next day."
The clinic went off without a hitch, Walling said.
"It went so smoothly. We have been working super, super hard on this," she said. "We were so anxious and excited to receive those vaccines. I couldn't have asked for it to go any better."
For Walling, the vaccine effort is personal. An uncle died last year from the virus.
"We want our patients to know that we are working as hard as we can to get to everyone," Walling said. "We understand that patients are scared and they're wanting to get immunized. We're working as hard as we can to get that done."
Pharmacists in the state don't know how much vaccine to expect in the future, Walling said.
"The vaccine supply is so limited that it's a week-to-week thing," she said.
BY THE NUMBERS
There were 1,226 new covid-19 cases added Monday, bringing the cumulative total to 296,494.
The state's death toll from the virus, as tracked by the Department of Health, rose by 27, to 4,895 -- just 105 shy of reaching the 5,000 mark.
"We have known since early on that the virus that causes covid-19 is very dangerous and that it can spread easily and cause serious complications, including death," Dillaha said. "We feel the same about the 4,895th death announced today as we did about the very first one: We wish it could have been avoided."
The number of cases that were considered active dropped by 489 to 16,665 -- 1,127 less than reported the previous Monday.
There were 270 covid-19 patients in ICUs, two fewer than the previous day and 64 fewer than the 334 reported the previous Monday.
Monday's report of covid-19 ICU patients was the lowest number seen since Nov. 8, when there were 268 virus patients in critical care units.
There were 146 patients on ventilators, down from 148 on Sunday and 36 fewer than the 182 reported a week ago. Monday's report of ventilator use was the lowest reported since Nov. 17, when there were 137 patients requiring ventilators.
The number of people who have ever been hospitalized in the state with the virus rose by 41, to 13,651.
Those who have ever been on a ventilator in the state with the virus rose five, to 1,426.
Among prison and jail inmates, the Health Department's count of cases rose by 32.
There were 7,803 polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, tests, and 398 antigen tests reported Monday -- higher than the previous Monday when 6,486 PCR and 357 antigen tests were recorded.
There were 60,036 PCR tests performed in the past seven days -- 4,991 less than the 65,027 reported from Jan. 19 to Jan. 25.
For the month of January, there were 298,788 PCR tests and 83,662 antigen tests administered. Comparatively, there were 341,000 PCR and 91,957 antigen tests performed in December.
Over the past seven days, 11,792 new cases were reported, a reduction of 647 cases from the previous seven-day period -- from Jan. 19 to Jan. 25 -- that saw 12,439 new cases.
In the past seven days, 245 Arkansans were reported as having lost their lives to the virus -- 62 less than the previous week. Some of those deaths occurred in previous weeks.
COUNTY DATA
Pulaski County had the largest number of new cases, 175, followed by White County, which had 79; Benton County, which had 76; Washington County, which had 54; and Faulkner County, which had 53.
The numbers reported per county rose from those reported a week ago Monday.
Pulaski County's cases jumped by 37 from 138 a week ago, while Washington County rose by 10 from 69 and Benton County rose by 10 from 66.
The county with the highest number of active cases was Pulaski County with 2,774, followed by Benton County with 1,340; Washington County with 1,238; Sebastian County with 745; and Faulkner County with 714.
HOSPITAL BEDS
There were 75 more available hospital beds on Monday, going from 2,212 on Sunday to 2,287 on Monday -- a jump of 56 from the previous Monday when 2,156 beds were available.
The total beds -- whether filled or vacant -- remained the same at 8,829. The total includes more than 300 in psychiatric or rehabilitation facilities that aren't for covid-19 care.
That means that about 74% of the state's hospital beds are full.
Available ICU beds jumped by five, going from 101 on Sunday to 106 on Monday. Out of 1,182 critical-care beds, about 9% were available Monday afternoon.
The state inventory of ventilators increased by one to 1,134. About 65.5%, or 743, ventilators remain available for use, 15 more than Sunday.