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Arkansas’ low vaccination numbers lead to coronavirus spike

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Delta variant sparks resurgence in state COVID- 19 cases, hospitalizations

ralphhardin@gmail.com The more transmissible “Delta Variant” of the coronavirus has led to a resurgence of new COVID-19 cases in Arkansas.

The uptick, which began in late June and has steadily risen to an increase of 2,015 new cases in the Arkansas Department of Health’s daily coronavirus report on Sunday, has brought with it an increase in hospitalizations. As of Monday, 919 Arkansans were hospitalized due to complications with COVID-19. A month earlier, on June 27, the state had 185 in hospitals.

While the current hospitalization numbers haven’t approached the levels seen at the height of the pandemic last winter, hospitals and first responders across the state are advising Arkansans to get vaccinated now to avoid putting additional stress on the state’s medical system.

Some hospitals are already beginning to feel that added stress.

On July 17, University of Arkansas for the Medical Sciences (UAMS) Chancellor Dr. Cam Patterson announced that the UAMS Medical Center in Little Rock was at full capacity.

“The hospital at UAMS is full,” Patterson tweeted.

“COVID-19 numbers increase every day. We are staffing inpatients in the ER and recovery room.”

In Conway, however, current hospital capacity isn’t as serious of an issue as it is at UAMS. Conway Regional Medical Center and Baptist Health Medical Center-Conway advised residents they have policies in place to handle any potential hospitalization surge in interviews with the Log Cabin Democrat last week, while also acknowledging the recent increase in cases and hospitalizations.

“We are definitely seeing an increase in positive COVID-19 cases, as well as hospitalizations during COVID-19,” Baptist Health Medical Center President Tim Bowen said.

“Available hospital beds as well as ICU beds are extremely limited across our system and this varies hourly. This is a very busy time, but it is important to remember that it is not uncommon to run at or near capacity for ICU beds.”

State hospitals have surge plans in place that will allow them to prepare for an increase in patients.

In an interview with the Times’ sister paper the Log Cabin Democrat, Bowen said there is a clear path to alleviating current or future strain on their hospitals’ capacities: vaccinations.

“Please remember, the best defense against COVID-19 is getting the vaccine,” Bowen said.

Bowen added that all of Baptist Health’s critically ill COVID-19 patients were not fully vaccinated.

Conway Regional reported similarly with some 88 percent of current hospitalizations coming from unvaccinated individuals.

“The quickest way for our economy to recover, for businesses to fully open [and] for loved ones to reunite is for everyone to get vaccinated,” the spokesman said.

In all, more than 375,000 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed, resulting in 6,054 deaths. In Crittenden County, the total number of cases has jumped back into the triple digits. After hovering in the 20-30 case range for more than two months, there are now 110 active COVID-19 cases in the county. The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Crittenden County is now 6,333, with 97 fatalities.

Photo courtesy of EAFHC

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