COVID-19 update: Hospitalizations continue to rise

This illustration provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in January 2020 shows the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV). - Image by CDC via The Associated Press
This illustration provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in January 2020 shows the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV). - Image by CDC via The Associated Press

As a service to our readers, The Sentinel-Record publishes updates released by the city of Hot Springs and the state of Arkansas.

The Arkansas Department of Health is no longer reporting confirmed and probable cases separately or updating its stats on the weekend. The following stats were posted Thursday on the Health Department's website:

• 361,238 cumulative cases, up 980 from Wednesday.

• 990.43 rolling seven-day average of new cases, down 32.86 from Wednesday.

• 3,194,981 PCR test reports, up 6,377 from Wednesday.

• 8.7% cumulative PCR infection rate, no change from Wednesday.

• 2,740,690 vaccine doses received, up 2,310 from Wednesday.

• 2,202,070 doses received, up 5,628 from Wednesday.

• 669 hospitalizations, up 22 from Wednesday.

• 119 cases on a ventilator, up 16 from Wednesday.

• 248 ICU admissions, up three from Wednesday.

• 5,981 deaths, up four from Wednesday.

• 2,092 nursing home deaths, no change from Wednesday.

• 11,043 cumulative cases in Garland County, up 24 from Wednesday.

• 38.29 rolling seven-day average of new cases, down 1.28 from Wednesday.

• 123,995 PCR and antigen test reports, up 438 from Wednesday.

• 8.7% cumulative PCR infection rate, no change from Wednesday.

• 361 active cases in Garland County, down 14 from Wednesday.

• 10,416 recoveries in Garland County, up 38 from Wednesday.

• 266 deaths, no change from Wednesday.

The eight-day rise in the state's infection curve abated Thursday, but the number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals rose for the 14th straight day.

The number of patients requiring mechanical ventilation rose for a sixth straight day, reaching its highest level since Feb. 12. The number of patients in intensive care also rose for a sixth straight day. ICU admissions have risen 136% over the last month.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson has called the growing presence of the delta variant and the state's low rate of vaccination a "one-two punch." While there's broad consensus among public health officials that delta is more transmissible than other permutations of the virus, statistics from Public Health England, an agency of the United Kingdom's Department of Health and Social Care, suggested it might not be more virulent.

Delta hit the UK months before it landed in the United States, but the UK's fatal COVID-19 cases as a percentage of total cases among 45- to 59-year-olds began falling in March. Fatal cases as a percentage of total cases for the 30-to-44 demographic have remained below 0.2% since January.

Fifteen percent of cases among people 60 and older proved fatal in January, but since then the percentage has fallen significantly. Fatal cases have made up less than 4% of the total cases among the 60-and-older set in July.

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