Arkansas COVID-19 cases up 595 to 16,678

(06/23/20)  The following stats were shared Tuesday at Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s daily COVID-19 news conference in Mountain Home and posted on the Arkansas Department of Health’s website:

• 16,678 total confirmed cases, up 595 from 16,083 on Monday.
•  5,221 active cases, up 158 from Monday.
• 11,220 recoveries, up 427 from Monday.
• 237 deaths, up ten from Monday.
• 248 cases requiring hospitalization, up 11 from Monday.
• 57 cases requiring a ventilator, down four from Monday.
• 180 cases in Garland County, up three from Monday.
• 24 active cases in Garland County, down one from Monday.
• 155 recoveries in Garland County, up four from Monday.
• 1 death in Garland County, no change from Monday.

So far for the month of June, there have been 126,120 tests administered. As of Tuesday, June 23, there were a total of 5,344 test results compiled in the past 24 hours. Among today’s new cases, 212 were from correctional facilities and 383 were from the community.

Of the 5,221 active cases, there are 103 cases in nursing homes, 779 case in correctional facilities and 4,339 cases in the community. There are increases in positive cases in the Benton County Jail (188 inmates and 13 staff) and in Hot Spring County, the Ouachita Regional Correctional Institute (128).

The University of Arkansas Medical Science modeling for the “Predicted Active COVID-19 Infection in Arkansas” for the fall season predict the peak time will probably be September 30, 2020. The mean-average peak number of cases include; 133,056 total infection cases; 3,326 total hospitalizations; 997 ICU admissions and 698 total ventilators needed.

The worst-case predicted peak date is for September 19, 2020. The estimates include; 251,834 total infection cases; 6,295 total hospitalizations; 1,888 ICU admissions and 1,322 total ventilators needed.

As of today, June 23, there are 16,678 total infections; 248 total hospitalizations; 125 ICU admissions and over 562 total ventilators needed.

 “These numbers are manageable,” stated Hutchinson. On this modeling, the statistics are predicted to continue along the current trajectory and are based on current conditions and how the virus spreads. The predicted peak time will be late September/early October.

To change the current trajectory, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the Arkansas Department of Health are doing mass testing, contact tracing and isolation. For individuals to help change the current trajectory, there needs to be discipline, social distancing, wearing masks out in public, washing hands, staying home when sick, and breaking life-long habits and courtesies that people enjoy. If people can do this, then individuals can make a difference in the course of the trajectory. “We each have a part to play,” said Hutchinson. Dr. Nate Smith emphasized “individuals need to be reminders to each other to help support community efforts to protect one another against COVID-19.”