In April, 39 Covid deaths in the county had been reported by the Arkansas Department of Health, and cases in June stayed at about 41 most of the month. Five additional deaths were reported the week of July 9 with five more deaths reported the rest of July. An additional eight deaths were reported between Aug. 30 to Sept. 20 bringing the county’s total to 66.
Active cases in the county peaked in mid-August at about 231, with the active cases Sept. 20 estimated at 131. Deaths often occur weeks after someone becomes ill with Covid. The county has reported a total of 4,134 new cases of Covid since the pandemic began in early 2020.
The number of new Covid cases in the state has been on a downward trend in mid-September even with schools open to in-person instruction, with some districts requiring masks and others not. There have been an estimated 18,720 new Covid cases in public and private schools and universities in the state since the school year began.
There has been some hope that the situation is improving with average daily new cases in Arkansas declining while the total number of active cases is still considered high at 15,004. The state remains fourth in the country for the number of new cases per capita, and seventh in the country in the number of deaths.
Currently about 1,115 people in Arkansas are hospitalized. Since Feb. 1, the unvaccinated represented 88 percent of those and 87 percent of the deaths have been the unvaccinated. Thirty-six percent of county residents are fully vaccinated.
Since January 2020, health authorities estimated that at least 1 in 7 people who live in Carroll County have been infected, and at least 1 in 430 people have died. Because of the high rate of spread in the county, the CDC recommends even vaccinated people wear masks, maintain social distancing and avoid crowds.
However, in the tourist town of Eureka Springs, people are commonly gathering in crowds to listen to music, dining indoors, and mingling with others on the street. While some people are being very cautious, a number of people have decided against vaccination and are opposed to wearing masks.
Some have reported that they already had Covid but didn’t get tested. They had a mild case, have since recovered, and say they are relying on a strong immune system to stay well.
People on both sides of the vaccination fence are not totally trusting the figures on Covid.
“I believe that people are focusing too much on the lower number of new confirmed cases and forgetting that new confirmed cases are connected to how many tests we are doing per day,” resident Crystal Ursin said. “Unfortunately, we are doing a lot less testing than we were a few weeks ago. A friend of mine’s daughter went to get tested for Covid-19 and many people were getting turned away saying that they were not eligible to get tested. It seems as if the state is making it harder for people in order to lower the number of confirmed cases. This makes it look as if the numbers are getting better when they are not. It’s a false sense of hope due to lack of testing.
“We’re averaging in the high twenties to low thirties every day,” she said. “And it still seems as if the governor is shying away from talking about the deaths except on the days when we have numbers in the tens.”
While limiting attendance during the 2020 Razorbacks football season to about 16,000, this year the stadium has seen between 65,000 and 75,000 at three home games.
“In truth, I wonder if the governor’s reasoning for lifting the restrictions, and making them into guidelines instead, was so that the colleges and high schools could have football games,” Ursin said.
The University of Arkansas Fayetteville leads the state in the number of cases of Covid-19 among students and staff with a cumulative total of 591 cases, with 138 considered active. UA saw an increase from 78 to 112 active cases after the Texas Longhorns game Sept. 11. As of Sept. 20, Washington County had 1,135 active cases of Covid and Benton County had 1,089 active cases.
Catherine Pappas, community liaison for Eureka Springs Hospital, said three people tested positive for Covid at the emergency room within 15 minutes on Sept. 17.
“Unless people are showing symptoms, they are not coming to the emergency room,” Pappas said. “It is mostly people who are unvaccinated who are showing poor symptoms. People come in for other issues who may be having a little respiratory problem. We have to test them, and some are positive for Covid. They don’t know they have Covid because they have the vaccinations and are having only mild symptoms.”
The hospital is continuing giving free shots of either the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Fridays. On the Sept. 17, there were only three people getting the first shot, but 19 receiving their second shot. Pappas was excited about seeing a spike in demand for second shots because earlier people got the first shots but didn’t return for second shots. Eleven people receiving booster shots on Sept. 17.
ESH is also continuing to give shots at the public schools. On Sept. 23, a shot clinic was planned at the middle school for children 12 and up with the parent’s consent.
Vaccines are also available at Smith Drug in Eureka Springs on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 9:30 and 5 p.m. Call (479) 253-9175 for an appointment. Smith Drugs reports giving about 10 vaccinations per day.
The Holiday Island Pharmacy is also offering free vaccinations on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Note: Not all deaths reported by ADH occurred in the week they were listed. Some were earlier deaths added as part of a data cleanup.