Local death toll now at 104

Two more Carroll County residents have died from complications related to the COVID-19 pandemic in the past week, bringing the local death toll associated with the novel coronavirus to 104.

The two additional deaths were the first reported in Carroll County since April 11 and the second-highest weekly death toll since March 21.

The statewide death toll increased by 29 in the past week, rising to 11,445 since May 16, an increase of more than 140 in the past six weeks.

Meanwhile, the number of active cases of COVID-19 in Carroll County continue to rise, with 23 cases reported Monday by the Arkansas Department of Health.

Statewide, the active case total showed a approximately 25 percent increase for the third consecutive week, rising to 3,220 — the fifth consecutive week of rising numbers.

The overall case count in the county increased by 10, rising to 6,150 since the pandemic began. Statewide, the number of new cases in the past week increased by 3,436, more than double the 1,456 new cases reported May 16 — an increase of 8,971 cases in the past seven weeks.

The two-year pandemic total for Arkansas now stands at 840,590 positive cases, with 825,766 cases listed as “recoveries,” meaning they are no longer being monitored by the health department. In Carroll County, the total number of cases includes 6,023 recoveries, an increase of four in the past week.

On Monday, the state health department reported 67 COVID-positive hospital admissions, with 18 in intensive care. Of those, eight required the aid of a ventilator.

On May 16, the number of hospitalizations was 44, with 18 in intensive care and eight on a ventilator.

Since the pandemic began, hospitalizations in Arkansas have included 1,421 children under the age of 18 — five in the past week — including 168 who had been in intensive care. This week, the state health department reported 407 active cases among children — up from last week’s number of 352 and approximately 12.6 percent of the state total.

The age group with the most active cases was 65-and-older with 671, followed by those 25-34 with 553 and those 35-44 with 465, all of which are up over the past seven days.

Since Jan. 1, the number of overall cases of the novel coronavirus in the state has increased by 281,074, 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 Monday the number of Arkansans aged 5 and older that are fully vaccinated had increased by 2,304 in the past week — 84,259 since Jan. 1 — rising to 1,594,193. Another 376,127 were listed as partially vaccinated, while 572,492 had received their third-dose booster.

Combined, those numbers represent approximately 69.3 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 Monday, that number had increased to a reported 33,652 doses, including 46 in the past week.

According to the state health department, 50.1 percent of Carroll County residents aged 5 and older have been fully immunized and another 11.1 percent are partially immunized.

Combined, those numbers represent approximately 61.2 percent of the county’s population that is eligible to receive a vaccine, far below the statewide mark.