By Ray King
After a weekend where new cases of COVID-19 numbered less than 700, Arkansas on Monday saw the number jump to nearly 800 over a 24-hour period.
At his daily COVID-19 press briefing, Governor Asa Hutchinson said there were 787 new cases reported, bringing the state’s cumulative total to 44,597. The Governor said there were 662 cases on Saturday and 637 cases on Sunday.
Sebastian County again led the state in new cases with 87, followed by Washington County with 66, Pulaski Count with 54, Benton County with 42 and Logan County with 37. The next five counties were Independence Count with 32, Garland County with 29, Crittenden County with 28, Jefferson County with 25 and Mississippi County with 22.
Hospitalizations deceased by 2 to 513 and there were 11 additional deaths, raising the state total to 475.
Acting State Health Officer Dr. Jose Romero said there are currently 6,882 active cases, 80 in nursing homes, 392 in correctional facilities and 6,408 in community settings. He said 37,240 people have recovered.
Romero also made a pitch for state residents to go ahead and get their influenza vaccine since health officials don’t know what the effects of COVID-19 and influenza will be on hospital admissions and particularly intensive care units this fall.
Hutchinson announced that the state has received 100 new BD Veritor Plus antigen testing machines and an additional 100 machines will be on hand later this month. The machines will provide a quick test result for COVID-19 and he said the current plan is to put the machines in state health department units.
The local health units will be able to assist school districts in testing students or faculty members for COVID-19 and producing results quickly. He said the state has not yet received the test kits for the machines yet but those are expected soon.
