As a service to our readers, The Sentinel-Record publishes updates released by the city of Hot Springs and the state of Arkansas.
The following stats were posted Friday on the Arkansas Department of Health website:
• 249,176 cumulative confirmed cases, up 180 from Thursday.
• 306.86 rolling seven-day average of new confirmed cases, down 37 from Thursday.
• 2,597,383 PCR test reports, up 2,379 from Thursday.
• 9.6% cumulative PCR infection rate, no change from Thursday.
• 691,525 vaccine doses received, no change from Thursday.
• 469,440 doses given, up 3,224 from Thursday.
• 65,537 cumulative probable cases, up 88 from Thursday.
• 18.2% cumulative antigen infection rate, no change from Thursday.
• 6,478 active confirmed and probable cases, down 845 from Thursday.
• 302,872 recoveries of confirmed and probable cases, up 1,100 from Thursday.
• 630 hospitalizations, up five from Thursday.
• 108 cases on a ventilator, up one from Thursday.
• 237 ICU cases, down four from Thursday.
• 4,287 confirmed deaths, up 11 from Thursday.
• 1,049 probable deaths, up two from Thursday.
• 2,006 nursing home deaths, up four from Thursday.
• 8,025 cumulative confirmed cases in Garland County, up eight from Thursday.
• 30.71 rolling seven-day average of new confirmed cases, down 1.29 from Thursday.
• 94,041 PCR and antigen test reports, up 52 from Thursday.
• 69,921 private lab reports, up 50 from Thursday
• 24,120 public lab reports, up two from Thursday.
• 9.7% cumulative PCR infection rate, no change from Thursday.
• 278 active confirmed cases in Garland County, down 36 from Thursday.
• 7,557 recoveries of confirmed cases in Garland County, down 43 from Thursday.
• 1,431 cumulative probable cases in Garland County, up two from Thursday.
• 65 active probable cases in Garland County, down nine from Thursday.
• 190 confirmed deaths, up one from Thursday.
• 40 probable deaths, no change from Thursday.
Ten or fewer new polymerase chain reaction-confirmed cases were reported in Garland County for the second-straight day Friday.
It was also the second-straight day of low testing numbers, with 52 PCR and antigen test reports added to the county's testing total. Daily statewide testing totals have been below 3,000 for five-straight days. PCR test reports haven't exceeded 10,000 since last week.
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, commented Friday on Thursday's National Center for Health Statistics report on provisional life expectancy during the first half of last year. Life expectancy fell from 78.8 years to 77.8 years, its lowest point since 2006.
"This represents a substantial decline in life expectancy in our nation," she said during Friday's White House Coronavirus Response Team briefing. "Like the populations most heavily affected by this pandemic, the declines in life expectancy were most pronounced in certain racial and ethnic minority groups.
"The largest declines in life expectancy occurred in non-Hispanic Black persons, dropping 2.7 years, levels not seen since 2001. Hispanic persons were the second largest, dropping 1.9 years."
She said 1.6 million vaccine recipients enrolled in the CDC's smartphone-based side effect reporting system from Dec. 14 to Jan. 13. Seventy-one percent reported pain where the shot was given. Thirty-four percent reported fatigue, and 30% reported a headache.
"That's common with most vaccines and typically resolve within a day or two of vaccination," she said. "About half of the people don't feel very well after getting their second dose. This should not deter you from getting a second dose, but you need to have a light day of activity after getting vaccinations."
She said anaphylaxis reactions were reported at a rate of 4.5 per 1 million vaccine recipients. More than 40 million people in the United States have received at least one dose of vaccine.