After declining for the previous two days, the number of people hospitalized with covid-19 in Arkansas rose Wednesday as the state's cumulative count of cases topped 300,000.
The state's count of cases rose by 2,426 -- a larger increase than the one the day before and more than 600 cases than were added to the state's tallies the previous Wednesday, Jan. 27.
The number of people hospitalized in the state with the virus rose by 15, to 884. Those patients included 142 who were on ventilators, up from 141 a day earlier.
The number of virus patients who were in intensive care units as of 2 p.m. each day rose by 44, to 306.
The state's death toll from the virus, as tracked by the state Department of Health, rose by 46, to 4,985.
Also Wednesday, a Health Department spokeswoman said doses of coronavirus vaccine would be available to eligible members of the public at three CVS locations in Arkansas starting Friday -- three days later than a state official initially said they would be there.
[CORONAVIRUS: Click here for our complete coverage » arkansasonline.com/coronavirus]
People will be able to make appointments for the shots starting today, the spokeswoman, Danyelle McNeill said.
The 3,000 doses that officials have said will be available at those stores were initially designated for residents and workers of long-term-care facilities as part of a federal program but ended up not being needed for that effort.
Although the state's active case total rose Wednesday, Gov. Asa Hutchinson noted that the number was still below what it was a week earlier.
"Today's report shows an increase in new cases from last week, but we still show a decrease in active cases from last week," Hutchinson said in a statement.
"Our vaccination efforts continue to progress, with over 15,600 additional doses administered yesterday. We have been trending in the right direction, and we all need to wear a mask, watch our distance, and wash our hands to ensure that trend continues."
The state's cumulative count of cases since its first one was diagnosed in March rose to 300,430 -- representing almost 10% of the state's population.
After declining for the previous three days, the number of cases that were considered active rose by 202, to 16,533, as 2,178 Arkansans were newly classified as having recovered.
Despite the increases, the number of hospitalized virus patients and active cases remained well below the highs they reached in early January, after surges blamed on holiday gatherings.
A week earlier, on Jan. 27, the state's active case total stood at 17,686.
CAUTION URGED
State Epidemiologist Jennifer Dillaha said the increases in cases, hospitalizations and deaths Wednesday were "concerning."
"I think this is evidence that we still continue to have spread in communities around Arkansas, and the more we can take steps to decrease it, the better it will be for all of us," she said.
She said people who watch the Super Bowl on Sunday should do so at home with members of their household.
Those who watch it with members outside their household should keep the size of the gathering under 10, wear masks and practice social distancing, she said.
Bars where people might want to watch the game should make sure to follow the Health Department's rules intended to curb the virus's spread, such as by enforcing mask requirements and making sure tables are arranged so it's easy for customers to stay six feet apart, she said.
After dipping Tuesday, the average number of cases added to the state's tallies over a rolling seven-day period rose Wednesday by 93, to 1,638.
That average was still well below the peak of 3,086 cases a day that were added during the week that ended Jan. 10.
Dillaha said 41 of the deaths reported Wednesday happened within the past month.
Of the others, two happened in December and three occurred in early January.
REDIRECTED DOSES
The vaccine doses set to become available at CVS locations Friday are among tens of thousands in the state that were originally designated for residents and workers at nursing homes and other long-term-care facilities, then redirected after it was determined that more doses had been allocated for that effort than were needed.
About 17,000 of the surplus Moderna doses became available at Walgreens pharmacies throughout the state starting last week.
Since two doses are administered to each person, spaced a month apart, those are enough to vaccinate about 8,500 people.
Dillaha said Wednesday that all of the initial doses Walgreens made available to the public have since been administered.
[Interactive Arkansas map not showing up above? Click here to see it: arkansasonline.com/arvirus]
Col. Robert Ator, who is coordinating Arkansas' vaccine program, said Tuesday that the vaccinations at CVS locations, which will be enough to immunize about 1,500 people, had started that day.
But Health Department spokesman Gavin Lesnick said Wednesday that the schedule had changed "as we worked to get everything set."
"This is all fluid, and changes like this do sometimes happen," Lesnick said in an email.
McNeill said the CVS locations where the shots will be available are at 2001 S. Thompson St. in Springdale, 2015 Fayetteville Road in Van Buren and 101 E. Main St. in Russellville.
OTHER PROVIDERS
Including shots given at long-term-care facilities, CVS and Walgreens, which were allocated 49,400 doses under the federal program, reported administering 17,539 doses in Arkansas as of Wednesday morning.
The doses administered were up 422 from the number reported a day earlier.
From Tuesday morning to Wednesday morning, the number of doses received by other providers in the state rose by 32,725, to 519,225.
Those providers, which include pharmacies, hospitals and clinics, reported having administered 316,484 doses so far, up 15,193 from the number reported a day earlier.
The number of doses reported to have been delivered and administered includes some booster shots for people who had received the first shot.
The actual number of shots given is higher than the Health Department's figures because providers have three days to report the doses they administer.
On its website, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 256,307 Arkansans had received at least one dose of vaccine as of Wednesday, an increase of 4,466 from the number it had reported a day earlier.
The number of Arkansans who had received two doses rose by 3,453, to 63,356.
The number who had received at least one dose represents about 8.5% of the state's population.
That was the 14th-highest percentage among the states and District of Columbia.
The 2.1% of Arkansas residents who had received both doses was the 21st-highest percentage.
Nationally, 8.2% of people had received at least one dose, and 1.9% had received both doses.
HOSPITAL OUTBREAK
State-owned facilities that have experienced recent outbreaks of the virus include the State Hospital in Little Rock and the Arkansas Juvenile Assessment and Treatment Center in Alexander, according to a Health Department report.
The report lists 23 patients and four staff members at the state psychiatric hospital as having tested positive within the past two weeks as of Monday.
An officer with the hospital's Public Safety Department, Lt. Hasain El-Amin, died of the virus on Jan. 24 after being diagnosed with covid-19, state Department of Human Services spokeswoman Amy Webb said.
In an email to Human Services Department employees, department Secretary Cindy Gillespie said El-Amin hadn't been in the hospital and was feeling better, but then started having difficulty breathing before his death.
A graduate of Hall High School in Little Rock, El-Amin, 41, became an officer with the Little Rock Police Department in 2005 and joined the State Hospital force in 2010.
"He was very much a family guy," Gillespie said in the email.
"He loved his family and was so proud of his kids. At work, he was the consummate professional."
According to the hospital's CEO, James Scoggins, El-Amin "made sure procedures and protocols were followed, and was very good at de-escalating even some of the hospital's most difficult patients," Gillespie said.
"Outside of work he enjoyed playing the drums, was a fan of the Las Vegas Raiders, and enjoyed teaching and certifying others in the use of handguns," she said.
Webb said another employee at the hospital died in December after being diagnosed with covid-19.
A patient infected during an outbreak at the hospital died in August at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Medical Center.
Webb said 10 patients and nine staff members at the hospital were known to have active infections as of Tuesday morning.
"Infected patients are quarantined in areas with other Covid positive patients and monitored closely," Webb said in an email.
"All new admissions are quarantined for 14 days and tested prior to entering general housing. Where possible, staff are scheduled on the same unit each day to reduce the likelihood of transmission to other units."
She said people entering the hospital are screened for fever and possible exposure to the virus.
Patients who become too ill to be cared for at the hospital are transferred to UAMS.
About 450 of the hospital's 650 staff members had received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine, and many have received both doses, she said.
Patients don't qualify for the vaccine unless they fall into one of the categories of people now eligible.
Those include health care workers, first responders, residents and workers at long-term-care facilities, school and child care employees, and people age 70 and older.
YOUTH LOCKUP
At the lockup in Alexander, the Health Department report lists 55 youths and 25 staff members as having tested positive within the past 14 days as of Monday, with a total of four staff members having died from the virus since the pandemic arrived in Arkansas in March.
Webb said the lockup, operated by Nevada-based Rite of Passage, had seven active cases among staff members as of Tuesday.
Staff members are tested weekly for the virus. Forty-nine of them have received their first dose of vaccine and are scheduled to receive their second dose this week, Webb said.
"Additional staff have signed up to receive their first doses this week as well," Webb said.
She said Rite of Passage has seen "some hesitation" among staff members to get the vaccine and has an educational program designed to ease their concerns.
Those who are vaccinated receive apparel with the campaign's "Be a Lifesaver" slogan and are entered into a drawing for 55-inch televisions and other prizes.
"We've seen that as people see people they know get vaccinated and do OK, then they become more willing to sign up the next go around," Webb said.
Lesnick said some youth services workers qualify for the shots as health care workers, and others are considered first-responders.
Staff members at the Alexander facility also screen visitors, wear masks and take other precautions to prevent the spread of the virus, Webb said.
She said the vaccination of youths at the facility is "not approved by the state at this time."
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's authorization of the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech allows it to be administered to people 16 and older.
The Moderna vaccine can be given to people 18 and older.
CASES BY COUNTY
The state's count of cases that had been confirmed through polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, tests rose Wednesday by 1,732, to 239,065.
Its tally of "probable" cases, which include those identified through less-sensitive antigen tests, rose by 694, to 61,365.
Pulaski County had the largest number of new cases, 318, followed by Garland County, which had 185; Faulkner County, which had 173; Benton County, which had 172; and Washington County, which had 154.
Among prison and jail inmates, the Health Department's count of cases rose by one.
Half of the deaths reported Wednesday were among confirmed cases, and half were among probable cases.
The death toll rose to 3,994 among confirmed cases and to 991 among probable cases.
Among nursing home and assisted living facility residents, the state's count of virus deaths rose by five, to 1,911.
The number of people who have ever been hospitalized in the state with covid-19 grew by 83, to 13,813.
The number of the state's virus patients who have ever been on a ventilator because of the illness rose by seven, to 1,440.
