The number of active cases of COVID-19 in Carroll County last week rose at the rate of approximately one per day, with 42 reported by the Arkansas Department of Health on Friday. Statewide, the number of active cases rose 19 percent in five days, rising to 5,880 on Friday.
On Monday, June 6, the state health department reduced the number of Carroll County deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus to 103 after several weeks of reporting 104. By Friday, June 13, the ADH was again reporting 104 local deaths, but offered no explanation for the change as phone and email messages to the department seeking clarification went unreturned.
Statewide, the number of deaths attributed to complications from the virus rose by 14 from June 6 to June 10, rising to 11,512. The overall case count in Carroll County
The overall case count in Carroll County increased by 20 in five days, rising to 6,205 since the pandemic began. Statewide, the number of new cases increased by 2,528, down slightly from the 2,763 new cases reported June 6 — an increase of 15,346 cases since April 4.
The two-year pandemic total for Arkansas now stands at 848,474 positive cases, with 830,931 cases listed as “recoveries,” meaning they are no longer being monitored by the health department. In Carroll County, the total number of cases includes 6,059 recoveries, an increase of 14 since June 6.
On Friday, the state health department reported 145 COVID-positive hospital admissions, with 17 in intensive care. Of those, four required the aid of a ventilator.
On June 6, the number of hospitalizations was 96, with 20 in intensive care and four on a ventilator.
Since the pandemic began, hospitalizations in Arkansas have included 1,425 children under the age of 18 — an increase of five since June 6 — including 169 who had been in intensive care, an increase of seven in the same timeframe.
This week, the state health department reported 615 active cases among children — up from the 545 reported June 6 — approximately 10.4 percent of the state total.
The age group with the most active cases was 65-and-older with 1,298, followed by those 25-34 with 925 and those 35-44 with 878, all of which are up since May 31.
Since Jan. 1, the number of overall cases of the novel coronavirus in the state has increased by 288,958, 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 Friday the number of Arkansans aged 5 and older who are fully vaccinated had increased by 1,316 since June 6 — 107,438 since Jan. 1 — rising to 1,617,372. Another 286,000 were listed as partially vaccinated, while 673,430 had received a third-dose booster. Combined, those numbers represent approximately 67 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 Monday, that number had increased to a reported 34,433 doses, including 75 since June 6.
According to the state health department, 52.8 percent of Carroll County residents aged 5 and older have been fully immunized and another 7.1 percent are partially immunized.
Combined, those numbers represent approximately 59.9 percent of the county’s population that is eligible to receive a vaccine.
