The surge of people contracting Covid-19 in Arkansas continued after July 4th holidays saw crowds gather with few wearing masks or social distancing. Three days in a row the week after the holiday, Arkansas saw more than 1,000 new cases of Covid-19. The following weekend, more than 2,000 new cases were reported.
That week the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) added probable cases to confirmed cases for Carroll County. Covid cases went from 2,433 to 2,927, an increase of nearly 500, and deaths increased from 41 to 46.
“The numbers from July 5 only represented confirmed cases,” ADH public information officer Danyelle McNeill said. “We moved from confirmed to total cases Friday afternoon. The values on July 9 would represent confirmed and probable cases combined. This followed the update to the dashboard which combined both case types.”
“The Delta variant is highly transmissible which definitely makes it a wildcard,” Carroll County resident Crystal Ursin said.
“I do think the combination of the Delta variant, lifting the mask mandate, and basically removing all precautions and protections in Arkansas are causes of this huge increase in new cases. And with Eureka Springs being a tourist town, that brings in even more people that we don’t know are vaccinated or not.”
She said even if Arkansas still had a mask mandate, the CDC’s recommendations basically make it moot.
“The CDC’s recommendation of people who are fully vaccinated not having to wear a mask is not the right call,” Ursin said. “There is no way to tell if the people that you are around in stores who are unmasked are vaccinated or if they just refuse to wear masks. It’s not like we can stop every person who comes into a store and ask are they are vaccinated or not.
She was looking in her Facebook memories from this time last year, and this past week there were more new cases in Arkansas in 2021 than at the same time in 2020.
“I’m also worried and suspicious about how Gov. Hutchinson and the Arkansas Department of Health are reporting their information,” Ursin said. “I noticed that they have stopped reporting new cases on the weekends, and their chart with new case counts and vaccinations has a lot less information than it did a few weeks ago.”
Rapid spread of the more contagious Delta variant has primarily been in people who have not been vaccinated, but there has also been an increase in breakthrough infections in people who are fully vaccinated. There is apprehension that the variant could continue mutating making vaccines less effective, particularly in people over 65 and those with immune system disorders.
As of July 7, Arkansas had 1,902 breakthrough infections in people who had been fully vaccinated for at least two weeks. McNeill said that represents only about 2.4 percent of the 80,832 cases recorded in the state since Jan. 18, the earliest date people vaccinated were considered fully protected.
McNeill said breakthrough infections had led to seven confirmed deaths representing .4 percent of Covid-19 fatalities in Arkansas. The 68 hospitalizations represent about 1.6 percent of the 4,334 the Covid hospitalizations. Health officials continue to recommend vaccination as the best way to avoid illness and death.
Currently the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines indicate that people who are fully vaccinated can get together with others without masks or social distancing.
According to the New York Times Covid data tracker July 12, Carroll County has seen a 333 percent increase in Covid cases in the previous 14 days. Overall, in the U.S., cases are up 60 percent. However, deaths are 27 percent less, which is considered to be linked to higher vaccination rates among people over 50. The majority of people being hospitalized are younger Americans who have lower vaccination rates, but also a lower risk of dying from Covid.
Carroll County’s death rate per 100,000 people is far higher than New York City or the national average. Figures indicate a death rate in Carroll County of .5 percent per 100,000 people compared to .04 in New York—which earlier had one of the worst surges in the country—and .07 for the country as a whole.
“Unvaccinated people in Carroll County are at a very high risk for Covid-19 infections,” the New York Times reports. “Since January of last year, at least 1 in 10 people who live in Carroll County have been infected, and at least 1 in 604 people have died.”
The Times reports that only 29 percent of people of all ages in Carroll County have been vaccinated, with 52 percent of those 65 and up vaccinated compared to only 37 percent of people ages 18 and up.
The Arkansas Center for Health Improvement Health Policy Board issued a statement July 9 expressing alarm over the resurgence of Covid-19 in Arkansas and recommending renewed vigilance against the virus.
A press release from ACHI implored, “The Arkansas Center for Health Improvement Health Policy Board calls upon all Arkansans to redouble efforts to get protected from Covid-19 through vaccination and to continue defensive strategies including face masks in public, social distancing, and frequent hand-washing. Elected officials, private businesses, faith leaders, school and college officials, and community leaders must amplify the warning signal of the Covid-19 threat.”
ACHI warns that even if you have had Covid-19, the antibodies developed as a result of the infection do not provide total protection. Some people have been re-infected after they have had Covid-19, and the Delta variant appears to be more likely to cause reinfections than the original virus.
“Even people who have had Covid-19 infections should get vaccinated,” ACHI said. “People who have received only the first dose of a two-dose shot regimen ― the protocol for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines ― should be aware that new research suggests a single shot provides far less protection than two shots against the Delta variant, and significantly less protection than a single dose provides against the Alpha variant. These people should get their second shot as soon as the protocol allows.”
ACH President and CEO Dr. Joe Thompson said that as a pediatrician, he wants to remind everyone that while adults can choose whether to become protected, children under age 12 are not currently eligible for vaccination and must rely on adults to act responsibly and curb the spread of Covid-19.
“With schools and colleges opening in just a few weeks, we have a short window to make sure our children are protected,” he said.
Thompson warned that the Delta variant may cause symptoms that differ from those that have previously been associated with Covid-19.
“Instead of the cough and fever that Covid patients typically have reported, the most common symptoms reported from the Delta variant are headaches, runny noses, and sore throats,” he said. “This means that infected people may not realize they are infected, so they may not seek testing or health care and may not realize they should self-quarantine. If you have cold-like symptoms and suspect you may have Covid-19, I urge you to get tested.”