ROGERS, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — More than half of Arkansas’ active cases of COVID-19 come from the northwest region of the state, Governor Asa Hutchinson announced at a press conference at Mercy Hospital in Rogers on Monday.
Of the state’s 1909 active cases, there are 985 in Northwest Arkansas, including 368 active cases in Benton County and 362 in Washington County.
Dr. Nate Smith, Secretary of the Arkansas Department of Health, said 43 percent of the cases in Northwest Arkansas are among the Latino community.
As of May 29, there were 105 active cases associated with poultry businesses in Benton County and 51 active cases in Washington County.
Gov. Hutchinson on Monday praised the poultry industry for “doing an incredible job when you look at the numbers that they have in their facilities in a very controlled environment.”
Hutchinson also announced an additional 190 cases statewide on Monday, raising the cumulative case count to 7443. The new cases announced today include 187 from the community and three from correctional facilities in Arkansas.
The state has hit a new peak in hospitalizations with 121 (up by six), including 26 on ventilators (down by one).
“It’s actually a modest number of hospitalizations, but we want to watch that trend,” the governor said.
There were no additional deaths due to COVID-19 announced on Monday. The death toll in Arkansas remains at 133.
Smith said 5401 Arkansans have now recovered from the virus.
The 1909 active cases now include:
- 1778 in the general community
- 78 in nursing homes
- 53 in corrections
Hutchinson said the state performed 3798 tests over the last 24 hours and conducted 80,808 tests duringthe month of May, well over its stated goal of 60,000.
The governor noted that Northwest Arkansas still lags behind the rest of the state as far as testing, reporting 281 tests performed per 10,000 people in NWA, compared to 442 per 10,000 in the rest of the state.
For more data from the Arkansas Department of Health, click here.
For the latest on the state’s response to the novel coronavirus, visit https://www.healthy.arkansas.gov/programs-services/topics/novel-coronavirus.