After a week of no reported local deaths attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Arkansas Department of Health reported three more Carroll County residents had died from complications related to the novel coronavirus, bringing the local death toll to 112.
The three additional deaths — the most reported for a single week in the county since April 11 — bring the death toll for 2022 to 31 — topping the total from 2020, when 30 deaths were reported.
A total of 51 deaths associated with COVID-19 were reported in 2021 — a rate of approximately one death every seven days.As of Aug. 19, the death rate for 2022 stands at approximately one every nine days.
Statewide, the ADH reported the number of deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus at 11,841 on Aug. 19, including 2,661 since Jan. 1 and 29 since Aug. 12.
While the number of deaths continue to rise, the state health department reports that the number of active cases continue to decline, reporting 57 in Carroll County onAug. 19 and 10,970 across the state.
On Aug. 12, the state health department reported 66 active cases in the county, half the number reported on Aug. 5, following a spike in new cases in July. On July 8, the ADH reported 112 active cases of COVID-19 in Carroll County, the first time in months the number of active cases had topped 100.
On Aug. 12, the state health department reported an increase of 5,097 new cases in Arkansas, including 23 in Carroll County — with both numbers showing significant decreases from the previous seven-day totals. Since April 4, the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Arkansas has increased by 87,162.
The overall case count in Carroll County increased to 6,719 since the pandemic began, along with 6,550 “recoveries,” meaning they are no longer being monitored by the health department. Statewide, the number of confirmed cases now stands at 920,830 with 897,868 recoveries.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Aug. 19 continued to rate Carroll County’s community transmission level in its weekly report at “low,” with a case rate of 105.71 per 100,000 — down from 126.85 — with new COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000 at 6.1 and 2.9 percent of staffed, inpatient beds in use by patients with confirmed COVID-19.
On Aug. 19, the state health department reported an increase in COVID-positive hospital admissions, reporting 327 admissions, with 60 in intensive care. Of those, 18 required the aid of a ventilator. A week earlier, the number of hospitalizations was 315, with 59 in intensive care and 17 on a ventilator.
Since the pandemic began, hospitalizations in Arkansas have included 1,486 children under the age of 18, including 176 who had been in intensive care.
On Aug. 19, the state health department reported 1,970 active cases among children — down slightly from the 1,911 reported Aug. 12 — more than 17.4 percent of the statewide total.
The age group with the most active cases was 65-and-older with 2,334, followed by those 25-34 with 1,568 and those 55-64 with 1,429, all of which are down slightly since Aug. 12. The 35-44 age group is close behind with 1,372 reported active cases.
Since Jan. 1, the number of overall cases of the novel coronavirus in the state has increased by 347,688, 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 Aug. 19 the number of Arkansans aged 5 and older who are fully vaccinated had increased by 2,329 to 1,657,087 — a total of 149,048 since Jan. 1 — with another 288,688 listed as partially vaccinated and 817,780 listed as having received a thirddose booster. Combined, those numbers represent approximately 68.4 percent of Arkansans aged 5 and older.
Countywide, the state health department reported approximately 54.3 percent of Carroll County residents aged 5 and older have been fully immunized.
