LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas — A sign of hope coming from some of Arkansas's top doctors in regards to COVID in the state.
Just a month ago, active cases were near 50,000 and COVID hospitalizations reached record-levels.
Fast forward to the present and our active cases have dropped 91%, with hospitalizations down as well.
"It's been a long time since there's been a lot of cause for being optimistic," said UAMS Chancellor Dr. Cam Patterson.
In February, UAMS had 100 COVID patients, which is the most they had seen since the start of the pandemic. You compare to that now, and the hospital is down to just 26.
"For the next several weeks, we anticipate things will look even better," said Dr. Patterson.
We aren't out of the woods just yet, but Dr. Patterson said we are on the right track.
He said we aren't quite at the endemic stage yet, but the CDC has given new guidance that sets the stage for that transition.
And while the omicron surge is ending here in Arkansas, its subvariant BA.2 has been taking shape. The good news though is that there have only been eight reported cases since its arrival in January.
"We are not seeing an effect from the BA.2 omicron variant. Overall, cases are going down and hospitalizations are going down," said Arkansas Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jennifer Dillaha.
This decline has experts hopeful that we may soon see a more traditional way of life again.
"I'm just really happy for people, because now they can in a sense get on with their lives and spend some time catching up on the things they got behind on," said Dr. Dillaha.