08-06-2020 Death Toll Tops 500

(08/06/20) State’s death toll tops 500 

The following statistics were shared Thursday by Secretary of Health Dr. Jose Romero at Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s daily COVID-19 news conference in Little Rock and posted on the Arkansas Department of Health’s (ADH) website:

• 47,028 total confirmed cases, up 735 from 46,293 on Wednesday. 
• 6,958 active cases, up 21 from Wednesday.
• 39,555 recoveries, up 707 from Wednesday.
• 515 deaths, up seven from Wednesday.
• 514 cases requiring hospitalization, down two from Wednesday.
• 111 cases requiring a ventilator, up five from Wednesday.  
• 939 cumulative cases in Garland County, up 29 from Wednesday.   
• 210 active cases in Garland County, up one from Wednesday.
• 721 recoveries in Garland County, up 28 from Wednesday.  
• 8 deaths in Garland County, no change from Wednesday.

Romero stated, the number of tests completed in the past 24 hours was 4,514. Of these tests there was 1,137 tests performed by ADH, 3,051 from commercial/private and 326 from UAMS. The total tests performed for July are 27,998. 

To date, the number of total cases in Arkansas are 47,028. The current positivity rate increased to 8.6%.

In the past 24 hours, the number of new cases in Arkansas was 735, with 691 from the community and 44 from correctional facilities. The Dr. Romero shared the top counties for today’s new case counts, which included Pulaski (73), Craighead (69), Sebastian (62), Poinsett (27), Benton (24), Garland (24), Crittenden (23), Mississippi (23), Greene (22) and Saline (21).

Dr. Jennifer Dillaha of ADH encouraged citizens to participate in getting a flu shot, especially this year. She said, “The first reason is because you don’t want to have the flu and COVID-19 at the same time. The second reason is, flu vaccination can go a long way to keep individuals out of the hospital and we want to decrease the number of hospitalizations in Arkansas due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The flu vaccine is recommended for anyone, who do not have a contraindication and who are six-months or older. Dillaha stated that each year only fifty percent of the recommended individuals receive the flu vaccine. This year, she wants to see more than half of the Arkansas population get vaccinated. 

The flu vaccine will be available in September. Individuals are encouraged to receive the vaccination when possible. Many pharmacies and clinics will have flu vaccinations available as well as possible clinics providing back-to-school exams for students. Starting the week of September 21, the Arkansas Department of Health will have drive-thru flu vaccination clinics. The following week (September 28), the flu vaccination will be available at schools.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) also recommends children that are not current on vaccinations to catch up on needed vaccinations at this time.

Lastly, Dillaha reassures that the flu vaccination is effective. “The vaccine gives the immune system a running start to fight the flu. It introduces your immune system to what the virus will look like, so when individuals are compromised by the real virus, the immune system doesn’t have to go through the stages to fight the virus because it’s already recognized the virus and can fight it. Sometimes the vaccination is enough to keep people well with no symptoms, sometimes it’s enough to keep individuals out of the hospital even though they have the flu and other times, it’s enough to keep people alive.”