Secretary of the Arkansas Department of Health Jose Romero stressed the three W's during the weekly COVID press conference: WATCH your distance, WASH your hands, and WEAR your mask. There is a very real potential to overload the health system if we do not take precautions.
Governor Hutchinson’s 1/24/2020 COVID Press Conference
-->Time from specimen collection by provider to entry in the ADH system= 2.5 day s (37 hours)
--> Time entry into the ADH system to Case Investigation started (as of 11/16/2020) 2 days, 20 hours (68 hours). When cases went up, contact the tracing system started to get clogged up.
--> In June the test--> contact tracing call was around 4 days. We have improved, but now we are going back up.
--> Yesterday the CDC changed their recommendations on contact tracing. Every state is experiencing delays with contact tracing.
--> Please continue to answer the call from contact tracers.
--> These are numbers that are contact tracers= 877-272-6819 or 833-283-2019 or 501-686-5875
--> 1,421 confirmed PCR cases and 701 probable cases
--> 2,122 new cases, yesterday we had about 1,000 less cases yesterday.
--> Hospitalizations have increased by 14 to 988
--> Testing yesterday= 10,350 PCR tests and 4,571 antigen tests
--> Tests so far this month= 258,124 PCR tests and 44,130 antigen tests. Far exceeding our goals on testing.
--> Deaths have increased by 18 to 2,405 Arkansans who have died from COVID-19.
--> Thanksgiving guidance- Avoid travel. Stay home. Celebrate with your immediate household.
--> Most Arkansans are choosing to keep others safe. Plan more than food and football. Stay home. Stay outside. Keep it brief. Stay apart. Wear a mask.
--> A third vaccine has shown efficacy and should be moving forward for emergency use for the FDA.
--> States will receive an allotment of vaccines. They will go to health care providers first. We will not get enough for everyone. The state will prioritize the vaccine.
--> Three W’s= WATCH your distance, WASH your hands, and WEAR your mask. There is a very real potential to overload the health system if we do not take precautions.
--> Most hospitals are very busy because of normal Thanksgiving and the addition of high numbers of COVID patients.
--> 20% of in-patients in the Arkansas Baptist Hospital network are COVID patients= 199. 60 of which are in ICU. Those cases in critical care take up 1/3 critical care beds.
--> There are only so many nurses in the state, this is a resource that is not increasing.
--> We can open more beds, but we must have the staff to do that.
--> Thank you to the healthcare workers in Arkansas for continuing to give.
--> 37 schools that have current educational plan modifications. Total to 267 inactive, meaning they have returned to normal instruction.
--> Schools are doing a good job of targeting their response. Only 29% of all modifications have been the entire district (and this includes weather related modifications)