The state's count of covid-19 cases rose by 686 Wednesday -- marking the biggest spike since Feb. 25, when 726 new cases were reported, and prompting the state epidemiologist to warn of an impending second wave of record-breaking cases and deaths.
"The high number of cases today makes it clear that the Delta Variant is increasing the spread of the virus," Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Wednesday afternoon on Twitter. "The good news is that vaccinations increased to over 10,000. Let's keep making progress."
The state epidemiologist, Dr. Jennifer Dillaha, said in an interview that a second surge in cases, hospitalizations and deaths is likely to occur soon.
"I don't see how we can avoid it," she said. "I would say that's a real possibility. We're urging people to get vaccinated now because this virus, and this variant, is moving very fast. They will only have a short window to get vaccinated before it's going to be the dominant variant in Arkansas."
Dillaha urged those who never returned for a second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines to do so now, no matter the time lapse.
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"It's not too late, and they don't need to start over," she said. "If it's beyond that 21 days, go ahead and get that second dose."
Vaccine guidelines advise getting the second shot of Pfizer within 21 days of the first, while Moderna's booster shot is due within 28 days of the first.
The number of individuals who had received at least one dose of a covid-19 vaccine jumped by 2,258, to 221,986 on Wednesday. Individuals fully immunized increased by 4,192 to 993,471.
That means that 9.35% of Arkansas' population 12 years old and up is partially immunized and that 41.83% has received the second dose.
Of the 2,706,850 vaccine doses received in the state, 2,134,328, or 78.8%, have been administered -- increasing by 10,356 on Wednesday.
UNVACCINATED HIT HARDEST
The "vast majority" of the new cases are of people who are not fully vaccinated, Dillaha said.
"Hardly anyone who goes in the hospital or dies from covid-19 is vaccinated," she said.
Dillaha said Arkansans need continued help to make an informed decision to get vaccinated.
The Health Department is working to educate health professionals about how best to present the information to their patients so they can understand it.
"I'm hoping that, if people can receive information in a way that they can hear, they would be open to changing their minds," Dillaha said. "They might consider the possibility that they may have wrong information or misconceptions about the vaccinations and then make the decision to go ahead and get vaccinated."
Many people are not knowledgeable about the disease itself and the long-term effects from even a mild case of covid-19, she said.
"Some people underestimate the severity of the illness and overestimate the side effects or risks of the vaccine -- so they're not able to realistically balance that to make an informed decision," she said. "A lot of people have had the impression that the pandemic is almost over for us, and that's just really not the case."
BY THE NUMBERS
The number of cases in the state that were considered active rose by 398, to 3,763.
The state's death toll from the virus, as tracked by the state Department of Health, rose by four, to 5,909.
The number of people hospitalized in the state rose by 19, to 325, matching a level reached Sunday but not seen prior to that since March 10.
The number of covid-19 patients on ventilators increased by six, to 75, bringing the number of those who have ever been on a ventilator to 1,725.
There were eight more covid-19 patients admitted to intensive care units across the state, increasing the total number of such patients to 150. The number has steadily increased over the past week.
"The increased transmission of illness in our state is likely due to variants of concern that are more easily transmissible," Dillaha said.
The alpha variant is more prevalent now, but the delta variant will be the predominate strain soon, she said.
"It will beat the alpha variant," she said.
When a patient first tests positive for covid-19, it takes up to three weeks to determine the strain.
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"We're already three weeks behind, and this variant is traveling very fast," Dillaha said.
But this week, the Health Department started a partnership with the Minnesota public health laboratory to get variant sample results turned around in less than a week, Dillaha said.
The highly infectious delta variant, which was first discovered in India, has been identified in at least 85 countries.
According to the Health Department's weekly report, there are eight variants in the state, with the delta variant being the third-most-prevalent of the specimens sequenced. About 5.5% of the Arkansas covid-19 specimens tested show the delta variant, compared with 1% nationwide.
"The delta variant is 50% more transmissible than the alpha variant," Dillaha said.
The good news, though, is that the delta variant responds very well to monoclonal antibody treatment. The monoclonal antibodies are laboratory-made proteins that are designed to block the virus's attachment into human cells.
CASES BY COUNTY
The cases that were added to Arkansas' numbers included 378 confirmed through polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, tests. The other 308 were "probable" cases, which include those identified through the less-sensitive antigen tests.
The state's cumulative count of cases rose to 349,385, which was composed of 271,751 confirmed cases and 77,634 probable ones.
Pulaski County had the most new cases, 128, followed by Saline County with 61 and Washington County with 41.
The counties with the highest total of active cases were Pulaski with 686, Saline with 244, Benton with 210, Washington with 186 and Baxter with 165.