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 Thursday on the Arkansas Department of Health website:
• 251,299 cumulative confirmed cases, up 574 from Wednesday.
• 329 rolling seven-day average of new confirmed cases, up 61.86 from Wednesday.
• 2,627,733 PCR test reports, up 9,057 from Wednesday.
• 9.6% cumulative PCR infection rate, no change from Wednesday.
• 66,823 cumulative probable cases, up 152 from Wednesday
• 17.7% cumulative antigen infection rate, down from 17.8% Wednesday.
• 4,720 active confirmed and probable cases, up 44 from Wednesday.
• 307,978 recoveries of confirmed and probable cases, up 672 from Wednesday.
• 522 hospitalizations, up 26 from Wednesday.
• 108 cases on a ventilator, up eight from Wednesday.
• 204 ICU admissions, no change from Wednesday.
• 4,339 confirmed deaths, up nine from Wednesday.
• 1,058 probable deaths, up one from Wednesday.
• 2,022 nursing home deaths, up four from Wednesday.
• 8,146 cumulative confirmed cases in Garland County, up 57 from Wednesday.
• 18.43 rolling seven-day average of new confirmed cases, up 6.72 from Wednesday.
• 95,322 PCR and antigen test reports, up 311 from Wednesday.
• 70,919 private lab reports, up 200 from Wednesday.
• 24,403 public lab reports, up 111 from Wednesday.
• 9.8% cumulative PCR infection rate, no change from Wednesday.
• 211 active confirmed cases in Garland County, up 30 from Wednesday.
• 7,743 recoveries of confirmed cases in Garland County, up 26 from Wednesday.
• 1,481 cumulative probable cases in Garland County, down two from Wednesday.
• 58 active probable cases in Garland County, down eight from Wednesday.
• 192 confirmed deaths, up one from Wednesday.
• 40 probable deaths, no change from Wednesday.
The 574 new confirmed cases reported Thursday were the most since last week's winter storms, raising the polymerase chain reaction-confirmed infection curve for the third-straight day.
Active confirmed and probable cases rose Thursday for the first time in three weeks but were 83% lower than the Jan. 9 peak of 27,882. Thursday's net increase of 26 hospitalizations was the biggest jump since Feb. 7.
The 57 new confirmed cases reported in Garland County Thursday were the most in more than a week, raising its PCR-confirmed infection curve 57%.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported a 60% decline in nursing home deaths since mass vaccinations at long-term care facilities began in December. A similar decline has borne out in Arkansas.
The state Health Department reported 392 nursing home deaths during the first 25 days of December compared to 321 during the first 25 days of January.
It reported 138 nursing home deaths during the first 25 days of February.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson will make a significant announcement today at 9 a.m. on the public health emergency he first decreed in March, according to a news release his office issued Thursday. The executive order he signed at the end of December extended the emergency 60 days. The extension expires later this week.
The decree, which has been extended numerous times, authorizes the series of public health directives aimed at slowing transmission of the virus.
Updated vaccine numbers for the state were not available at presstime.