LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Last weekend, 44 people were reported to have died from COVID-19 in Arkansas as cases rose sharply during the previous week.
The state also reached another 1,000-day cases mark with a total of 1,030 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Thursday, Sept. 24.
(Eds. note: This article was last updated on October 5th.)
Key facts to know:
- 83,306 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Arkansas
- 3,707 probable cases
- 6,405 active cases
- 817 active probable cases
- 1,278 reported deaths
- 147 probable deaths
- 481 hospitalizations
- 89 on ventilators
- 75,615 recoveries
Watch the weekly press conference here:
Sunday, October 4
The Arkansas Department of Health is reporting 455 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 18 more deaths.
Saturday, October 3
The Arkansas Department of Health is reporting 542 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 15 more deaths.
A total of 10,380 PCR tests and 841 antigen tests were completed over the last 24 hours.
The state is also reporting 204 new probable cases.
Friday, October 2
The Arkansas Department of Health is reporting 778 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and seven more deaths.
A total of 12,316 PCR tests and 757 antigen tests were completed over the last 24 hours.
The state is also reporting 180 new probable cases.
Thursday, October 1
The Arkansas Department of Health is reporting 921 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 15 more deaths.
A total of 11,244 PCR tests and 1,154 antigen tests were completed over the last 24 hours.
The state is also reporting 203 new probable cases.
While Gov. Hutchinson said he doesn't like to see an increase in cases, he said that "high testing volume is vital to our efforts to slow the spread of the virus."
Wednesday, September 30
4 p.m.
According to the Arkansas Department of Health, there is an additional 607 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 19 new deaths. A total of 8,184 PCR tests were completed over the last 24 hours.
The state also added 335 new probable cases and 1,405 antigen tests over the last 24 hours.
The ADH reported that the top counties for new cases are Pulaski, 51; Washington, 43; Craighead, 39; Benton, 28; and Faulkner, 26.
Governor Hutchinson released the following statement on today’s COVID-19 numbers:
“Today’s numbers show a continued decline in our 7-day positivity rate with consistently high testing numbers each day. We have administered over 1 million COVID-19 tests since March and we have the infrastructure and supplies to increase our capacity as needed.”
Tuesday, September 29
3:15 p.m.
The newest UAMS COVID-19 forecast is projecting that Arkansas will have around 2,500 deaths by the middle of November.
Officials say the pandemic will likely peak in February 2021 with "approximately 58,000 active infections."
You can read the full projection by clicking here.
1:40 p.m.
The state reached it's goal of completing 1 million PCR tests. There have been 1,002,538 PCR tests and 21,214 antigen tests so far this month.
A total of 5,394 PCR tests were completed over the last 24 hours. The Arkansas Department of Health also reported 217 positive antigen tests out of 1,167.
Dr. Romero broke down the new COVID-19 cases by county:
- Washington 65
- Pulaski 47
- Sebastian 33
- Benton 31
1:30 p.m.
Governor Hutchinson started the press conference by recognizing the Atkins Superintendent.
"He was beloved in the River Valley and I want to recognized his life and service," Gov. Hutchinson said.
The White House Task Force released it's report on Arkansas for COVID-19.
"While we're still in the red zone for cases, we are in yellow zone for test positivity," Gov. Hutchinson said. "It also said in the second paragraph that Arkansas has seen stability in new cases and test positivity over the last week."
The White House also announced it bought 150 million rapid point of care tests. Within 15 minutes, you'll have a result. Arkansas will get 900,000 of those tests. 59,000 of those will be shipped in the next 10 days.
Gov. Hutchinson reported 482 new coronavirus cases in Arkansas, hospitalizations are up six and 21 more people have died. Of the 21 new deaths, none were delayed. Nine of those also occurred in nursing homes.
That brings the total number of COVID-19 deaths to 1,204 in Arkansas. The state has seen 88 COVID-19 related deaths within the last four days.
9 a.m.
Atkins school's Superintendent Jody Jenkins died early Tuesday morning due to complications of COVID-19.
Monday, September 28
The Arkansas Department of Health has updated its COVID-19 dashboard with 786 new confirmed cases, 21 new probable cases and 23 more deaths.
A total of 1,183 people have died from the virus while 146 probable deaths have also been reported.
Hospitalizations have increased to 496 and 99 people are on ventilators.
Gov. Hutchinson said in a statement that "it's critical that we all continue following the guidance of our public health officials to slow the spread of this virus."
A total of 7,056 PCR tests were completed over the last 24 hours.
Below are the hospitalization numbers from this weekend as reported to us by hospitals and as of 2 p.m. Sunday.
- Current hospitalizations: 496
- Total Beds: 9,088
- Total Beds available: 2,568
- Total ICU Beds: 1,002
- Total ICU Beds Available: 130
- Total Vents: 1,060
- Total Vents Available: 716
- Total Covid patients in ICU: 237
- Total Covid patients on vents: 99
We will update this article with more information as it becomes available.