Active cases of Covid are on the rise again in Arkansas and the rest of the country, just as was seen during the past two holiday seasons. As of Dec. 5, active cases in the state have grown from 3,369 the previous week to 5,001—with many cases not reported because of the use of home tests. While U.S. hospitalizations for Covid are far lower than during previous surges, they have nearly tripled in the past month.
“Cases, hospitalizations and test positivity are all rising at the national level, suggesting that the relative stability seen this fall could be coming to an end,” The New York Times Covid tracker reported on Dec. 1. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports the number of active cases and hospitalizations are up 28 percent over the past month. Deaths are down 12 percent, which is attributed to the current milder strain of Covid.
Arkansas hospitalizations have not increased as much as the national average. Hospitalizations started increasing the first week of December, but levels are not triple what they were a month ago, Dept. of Health State Epidemiologist Mike Cima said. He said on Nov. 5, the number of individuals hospitalized was 140, and on Dec. 5, that number was 223.
Dr. Joe Thompson, president and CEO of the Arkansas Center for Health Information, is concerned that people continue to be hospitalized from Covid when most of that could be prevented by vaccination.
“This virus is still with us and continues to mutate,” Thompson said. “It continues to look for unprotected individuals. Some of the most recent variants have escaped the medicines used to treat Covid like monoclonal antibodies. Vaccinations remain our most important defense. The bivalent vaccine has protective effects against hospitalization or even a worse outcome if you catch Covid.”
CDC research estimates that people ages 12 years and older who got an updated bivalent booster were 15 times less likely to die from Covid-19 compared with the unvaccinated.
As many as one out of five people can come down with the symptoms of long Covid, lingering symptoms of fatigue and other health problems that can last weeks, months or years. Thompson said there aren’t good evidence-based treatments for long Covid.
Social isolation can harm both mental and physical health. “[Covid} is a new experience that affected all of our lives in many ways, not just the health risk and loss of life, but the education challenges, business disruptions and economic impacts to families,” Thompson said.
Uptake of the new bivalent boosters has been low across the country with estimates that only about a third of those eligible have gotten the shot. ADH Director Dr. Jennifer Dillaha said they are particularly concerned about older adults who haven’t received it yet. She said older adults are getting sick with Covid-19 at higher rates than people of younger ages, and they are more likely to have severe illness.
“We are concerned about the low uptake of the bivalent booster,” Dillaha said. “The increasing numbers of Covid-19 occurring at the same time as high levels of flu, RSV and other respiratory viruses are putting stress on Arkansas hospitals, emergency departments and clinics. I would encourage people to do whatever they can to avoid getting infected this holiday season.
“Both Covid-19 and influenza cases are on the rise. We strongly encourage people to get vaccinated to protect themselves and the people they love from these illnesses. We urge people to stay home when they’re sick and if they have Covid to follow the CDC’s recommendations for isolation.”
ADH encourages people with symptoms that could be Covid or the flu to get tested as soon as possible. Both Covid and the flu can be treated with specific oral medications that can potentially keep people out of the hospital. Dillaha said the key is to start taking them right after symptoms begin.