(072720) Garland County up to 233 active cases

State has 814 new cases reported today

The following statistics were shared Monday, July 27, at Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s daily COVID-19 news conference in Little Rock and posted on the Arkansas Department of Health’s website:

  • 39,447 total confirmed cases, up 2,198 from 37,249 on Friday. 
  • 6,674 active cases, down 354 from Friday.
  • 29,827 recoveries, up 963 from Friday.
  • 408 deaths, up 14 from Friday.
  • 489 cases requiring hospitalization, down nine from Friday.
  • 110 cases requiring a ventilator, up one from Friday.  
  • 695 cumulative cases in Garland County, up 114 cases from Friday.
  • 233 active cases in Garland County, up 33 from Friday.
  • 457 recoveries in Garland County, up 81 from Friday.
  • 5 deaths in Garland County, no change from Friday.

In the past 24 hours, the number of new cases was 824, with 814 from the community and 10 from correctional facilities. The top counties with new cases were Pulaski with 120, Washington with 62, Craighead with 46, Benton with 45, Sebastian with 30, and Jefferson with 29. There was a total of 5,929 test results reported in the past 24 hours. New cases added over the weekend included 732 on Saturday and 642 on Sunday. 

The governor announced the allocation of $10 million for Wi-Fi access points for students across Arkansas with federal dollars from the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) fund. This action is in recognition of school districts across the state being able to provide effective online education in addition to classroom instruction. One of the key ingredients for online education, according to Hutchinson, is for students to have access to the internet, and he said there has not been appropriate coverage in the rural areas of the state. This allocation will provide approximately 20,000 devices with up to 24 months of high-speed unlimited data. School districts will also be able to utilize the agreed upon discounted pricing, should districts require additional units. 

In response to commercial testing labs having slowed their production due to increasing demands nationwide, 200 COVID antigen testing machines and the needed materials have been ordered by the Arkansas Department of Health. The new units should begin arriving next week, and a plan is being developed to implement them. 

Secretary of Education Johnny Key added that the Arkansas Department of Education has a survey out this week to school districts in the state to gauge each districts’ level of readiness for the reopening of schools, and specifically the districts’ Ready for Learning committees. It also asks about the development of their reopening plans, their percentage of students opting for the various learning methods, their supply for protective equipment for their students and staff and the technology they need to implement their respective plans. The results of the survey will be made public on the Arkansas Department of Education website. He also said the ADE is going to use approximately $1 million from the CARES Act to purchase a stockpile of PPE should districts run short or have a supply chain issue.