Hospitalizations peaked for the seventh time in nine days Wednesday as the infection curve fell 13%, potentially signaling the start of the steep descent seen in countries where the omicron variant was first detected.
The 6,561 new cases reported Wednesday replaced the record 14,494 reported the previous Wednesday in the rolling seven-day average. The moving average has fallen 16% from its Jan. 16 peak.
Hospitalizations rose for the 19th time in three weeks, rising 11% since Monday and giving credence to Gov. Asa Hutchinson's prediction that hospitalizations will continue to rise even as the infection curve falls.
More than 200 new cases were reported in Garland County Wednesday, but the county's moving average fell 3%. Wednesday's new cases replaced the 257, the fourth most reported during the pandemic, reported the previous Wednesday in the rolling-seven day average. The county's average has fallen 9% from its Jan. 15 peak.
A University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences research team found that the coronavirus' structure limits its ability to mutate relative to other viruses. The findings were published in FEMS Microbiology Reviews.
"The surprising finding is that the virus is pretty stable, and it is not changing that much," David Ussery, professor and director of the Arkansas Center for Genomic Epidemiology & Medicine at UAMS," said. "It's somewhat restricted. That's good news for designing drugs that can fight it effectively."
Compared to HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, the coronavirus is less adept at evading new drug therapies, Ussery said.
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. The following stats were posted Wednesday on the Health Department's website:
• 756,385 cumulative cases, up 6,561 from Tuesday.
• 7,700.29 rolling seven-day average of new cases, down 1,133.28 from Tuesday.
• 4,780,951 PCR test reports, up 10,491 from Tuesday.
• 11.2% cumulative PCR infection rate, no change from Tuesday.
• 84,225 active cases, down 5,346 from Tuesday.
• 22,038 active juvenile cases, down 1,456 from Tuesday.
• 662,361 recoveries, up 11,886 from Tuesday.
• 4,916,490 vaccine doses received, up 4,600 from Tuesday.
• 3,863,847 doses given, up 4,854 from Tuesday.
• 1,819 hospitalizations, up 34 from Tuesday.
• 223 cases on ventilators, down 10 from Tuesday.
• 483 ICU patients, down 32 from Tuesday.
• 9,574 deaths, up 18 from Tuesday.
• 2,321 nursing home deaths, no change from Tuesday.
• 20,474 cumulative cases in Garland County, up 227 from Tuesday.
• 163.14 rolling seven-day average of new cases, down 4.29 from Tuesday.
• 183,698 PCR and antigen test reports, up 536 from Tuesday.
• 11.4% cumulative PCR infection rate, no change from Tuesday.
• 1,613 active cases in Garland County, up 12 from Tuesday.
• 18,424 recoveries in Garland County, up 215 from Tuesday.
• 437 deaths, no change from Tuesday.