Another COVID-related death was reported in Carroll County, bringing the number of those who have died from complications related to the novel coronavirus to 105.
The additional death was accompanied by yet another increase in active cases, with 59 reported Friday, June 17, by the Arkansas Department of Health.
Statewide, the number of deaths increased by 21 to a reported 11,533 on June 17. The number of active cases in Arkansas stood at 8,131, nearly 3,000 more than last week’s total.
It was unclear if the additional Carroll County death was in fact a new one or a bookkeeping adjustment.
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 10, 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 have continued to go unreturned.
The overall case count in Carroll County increased by 39 in seven days, rising to 6,244 since the pandemic began. Statewide, the number of new cases increased by 5,535, more than doubling the number of new cases reported June 10 — an increase of 20,881 cases since April 4.
The two-year pandemic total for Arkansas now stands at 854,009 positive cases, with 834,195 cases listed as “recoveries,” meaning they are no longer being monitored by the health department. In Carroll County, the total number of cases includes 6,080 recoveries, an increase of 21 since June 10.
On June 17, the state health department reported 181 COVID-positive hospital admissions, with 26 in intensive care. Of those, nine required the aid of a ventilator.
On June 10, the number of hospitalizations was 145, with 17 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, including 169 who had been in intensive care.
This week, the state health department reported 858 active cases among children — up from the 615 reported June 10 — approximately 10.5 percent of the statewide total.
The age group with the most active cases was 65-and-older with 1,836, followed by those 25-34 with 1,318 and those 35- 44 with 1,170, all of which are up since June 10.
Since Jan. 1, the number of overall cases of the novel coronavirus in the state has increased by 294,493, 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 June 17 the number of Arkansans aged 5 and older who are fully vaccinated had increased by 1,896 since June 10 — 109,334 since Jan. 1 — rising to 1,617,372. Another 286,024 were listed as partially vaccinated, while 679,900 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 June 17, that number had increased to a reported 34,536 doses, including 103 since June 10.
According to the state health department, 52.9 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 60 percent of the county’s population that is eligible to receive a vaccine, well below the statewide mark.
