Active cases of COVID-19 in Carroll County are still on the rise, with 26 reported by the Arkansas Department of Health on Tuesday. Statewide, the number of active cases rose to 3,895, a nearly 21-percent increase since May 23.
The local death toll from the novel coronavirus remained at 104, while statewide, the number of deaths attributed to complications from the virus rose by 39 to 11,484.
The overall case count in the county increased by 17, rising to 6,167 since the pandemic began. Statewide, the number of new cases increased by 2,593, nearly double the 1,456 new cases reported May 16 — an increase of 11,564 cases in the past two months.
The two-year pandemic total for Arkansas now stands at 843,183 positive cases, with 827,648 cases listed as “recoveries,” meaning they are no longer being monitored by the health department. In Carroll County, the total number of cases includes 6,037 recoveries, an increase of 14 in the past week.
On Tuesday, the state health department reported 71 COVID-positive hospital admissions, with 15 in intensive care. Of those, five required the aid of a ventilator.
On May 23, the number of hospitalizations was 67, with 18 in intensive care and eight on a ventilator.
Since the pandemic began, hospitalizations in Arkansas have included 1,421 children under the age of 18, including 168 who had been in intensive care. This week, the state health department reported 456 active cases among children — up from the 407 reported May 23 — approximately 11.7 percent of the state total.
The age group with the most active cases was 65-and-older with 884, followed by those 25-34 with 679 and those 45-54 with 541. The 35-44 age group was close behind with 533, all of which are up since May 23.
Since Jan. 1, the number of overall cases of the novel coronavirus in the state has increased by 283,667, with the majority of those occurring among unvaccinated individuals. The number of active cases in Arkansas this year peaked on Jan. 21, when 102,576 were reported.
On the vaccination front, the state health department reported Tuesday the number of Arkansans aged 5 and older who are fully vaccinated had increased by 1,679 in the past week — 85,938 since Jan. 1 — rising to 1,595,872. Another 376,440 were listed as partially vaccinated, while 574,306 had received their third-dose booster.
Combined, those numbers represent approximately 69.3 percent of Arkansans aged 5 and older.
In Carroll County, 29,783 doses of the various vaccines had been administered by Jan. 1. As of Tuesday, that number had increased to a reported 33,714 doses, including 62 in the past week.
According to the state health department, 50.2 percent of Carroll County residents aged 5 and older have been fully immunized and another 11 percent are partially immunized.
Combined, those numbers represent approximately 61.2 percent of the county’s population that is eligible to receive a vaccine, far below the statewide mark.
