Thank you for joining me for today's COVID 19 weekly update. I'm pleased to be joined by Dr. Romero of the Department of Health today, Secretary Johnny Key of Education. We also have remotely, Larry Shackelford, CEO of Washington Regional Medical Center, and member of our task force. And we also have Lance Taylor here of the Arkansas Activities Association and give us a little update from his perspective. I first want to remark that I have set up a series of community action meetings that are designed for getting real counsel from local leaders in terms of how the community is handling COVID, but also to spur local engagement. And my first meeting today was in Saline County, and I was so impressed by the local officials who were there and the discussion that we had. One of the takeaways from my standpoint is that the mayors of multiple cities who are saying that the mask compliance is very, very high in their communities, and that people are wearing masks in the stores, they are as well, and I was encouraged by that. We had a very good discussion on vaccine distribution plans, testing whether looking at our plan, and then how that works in Saline Memorial Hospital, and with Westside Pharmacy, that are partnering to make sure that those first batch of health care workers will be covered. And so we got into details on that. I got feedback on our proposed and discussed new guideline that would require any indoor event in commercial properties to in a commercial setting, to have prior approval of their plan by the Department of Health. And because of the feedback and making sure we have all the questions answered, we're not issuing that today. We want to continue to hear from the communities that I'll be visiting later this week. And we want to make sure that we get that right. But we do encourage anyone, particularly during this month of December, and January, if you're considering event, please feel free to call the Department of Health for guidance, to let them know what you're planning what safety precautions you have in place. And even though that's only mandated for groups of 100 or more, to get that prior approval, they stand ready to help in the event that there's a wedding or event that there's an employer get together. That needs to have that kind of guidance, because we want everybody to be safe. We haven't finalized the guidance yet. But we want everybody to take the necessary precautions, I would emphasize that what we're talking about does not include places of worships, or restaurants because they have their own separate guidelines that are in place in terms the restaurants houses of worship, are in a separate independent category. With that, I also pleased to say that we have signed off on the I mean, FEMA has signed off on the utilization of the 10 hospital beds at the Veterans Administration hospital. And so we do have access to that, we're pleased with that. In terms of Trauma Con, which will help us to allocate the hospital space that's available in Arkansas. That is on target. We're hiring the resources for it, we hope to meet that deadline that we set to two weeks from last week. And then we also am pleased to say that we have received 125,000 additional beinecke test kits, that gives us the rapid testing capability. And that's been useful for our schools that have implemented this, for our Department of Corrections and Secretary Graves has the ability to do a rapid test to the employees is really making in a safer environment in the prison setting. And so we're pleased to see this additional shipment. And we also can use that through our Department of Health, local facilities. With that, let me go to our case report.
And this summary tells it all that first if you look at our total cases, we have 2283 additional cases in the last 24 hours. That includes both probable cases and confirmed cases, which means that our antigen testing is picked up again, that's what happens on a Tuesday. And if you look at our testing numbers, we've got back to a very high number over, over 13,000 tests have done combination PCR, and antigen. Whenever you see the antigen test at 3900, that pretty much going to mean that we're going to have an increase in our cases, because they have a higher positivity rate. Our hospitalizations that went down yesterday is back up today by 28. Our ventilators is no change. But sadly, in terms of our deaths, we have an additional 39 deaths over the last 24 hours of Arkansans that have died as a result of COVID-19. That's a startling reminder of the continued challenge that we face, the deadly nature of this virus, and how we have to protect not just ourselves, but our loved ones. And as that virus might be spread, it could go to somebody who has a vulnerability in terms of pre-conditions or other health conditions or their age. And we would not want that to happen. So that in and of itself, is a motivation for us to protect others with our own behavior. And if we look at this, we'll finally look at Pulaski County and Washington County, in terms of the total new cases 230 new cases in 24 hours in Pulaski County, Washington County 175. And so clearly, we have a lot to be careful about. And then let's look at the trend lines, which we like to do once a week. The seven-day rolling average of confirmed and probable cases both, you can see that that trend line is up. And it dipped that dip down. It was really over the Thanksgiving holidays in which our testing was down. And so you can see the trend line has been fairly consistently up. Next, you'll see it week by week that tells the same story. And so the week of well, the 39th week that last week, November 29. through December 5, you can see the increasing cases over that week two week period. In terms of hospitalizations, this is good hospital management. I applaud our hospital workers. And I think it also is reflective of some improved therapeutics that are being used. And so there is some level of steadiness there. But it could surge forward at any moment simply because of the new cases that we have been identified. If you look at the seven day rolling average on positivity, this is just of our PCR test. And that's above 10%. So it's too high. And we hope that can come down, it takes everybody's help to get that done and a lot of testing. If you look at the next one is the both the PCR and antigen test antigen test at a higher positivity level. And you can see that's a little that's a little bit higher than what we were simply on the PCR test. And this looks at the statewide perspective. And this is by public health region in Arkansas. And you first the top line is the Northwest. And you can see the trend line is up. You can see the both the yellow which is the yellow is central, which is Metro and Matt is up as well as the blue, which is northeast. And then the green and red is our southwest and Southeast that are on the lower side. And their trend line is not as dramatic as the others. And then if we go through a little bit more detail, this is the growth rate by public health region over the last week. And you can see this is percentage wise is a little bit misleading but the southeast is growing at 9.9%. Northwest is down at 8.7%. But if you look at the raw numbers, you're going to see more dramatic numbers. Next one. This is the number and growth rate of confirmed and probable cases. And here you can see in the middle of the Northwest region has increased 4600 cases, Central Arkansas has crease 3031, Northeast 2898. And so even though percentage wise is not as dramatic the raw numbers shows significant growth in those two areas of the state. And this shows by age group, I just like to show this to remind people that obviously, we worry about those 65 and plus that contract 9.5% of the cases, but the 0 to 17, 9.7% growth rate during the last week. And whenever we see that we recognize they might, they might be asymptomatic, they might feel fine. But there might be contagious at the same time. And so we've got to watch each age group and be responsible because of the impact it can have on other populations. I believe that concludes then And with that, I'll invite Dr. Romero, for his comments.
adding just a little bit of detail to what the governor has already said, we have had no increase in ventilator use over the last 24 hours. So we're still at 182. Our reserved for both ventilators and beds is still adequate at this time. Our testing continues to be robust, we are down a little bit on our commercial testing, and I expect that to go go up over the next couple of days. So we may be seeing some more increase in in our number of cases. Let me just add something the top five counties with over 20 cases. The first two, the first one has been mentioned, which is Pulaski County, followed by Washington County, followed by Benton and 151, Garland at 118, and Faulkner at 115. As you can see, spread is still going on in these communities and needs to be mitigated by appropriate use of the mask and washing of hands and distancing. Again, I want to stress the importance of those simple measures. The CDC has come out with new recommendations with regard to the use of mask in inside settings so that if you go into a store, if you are inside a building, you should be wearing a mask just like you are out in the public. So masking at all times is essentially what is necessary at this point. And non essential travel is is strongly discouraged. And if you are to do so then you should look on the website regarding the CDC website regarding recommendations for testing pre and post and for measures to be taken during the time of travel. Again, discouraging travel very, very strongly. So I'll stop here and turn this back over to Secretary Key.
Thank you, Dr. Romero. So in the last week, we had 16 districts or schools that have made modifications to onsite instruction. Being that that's the week after Thanksgiving, I thought that was a very positive development with that number. That brings us as of yesterday to 22 active modifications, and 317 that have now expired in those districts or schools have gone have returned to their regular operation. As we near the end of the first half of our school year, I wanted to look at some additional data. And I asked our team to pull some numbers out regarding the total number of districts and schools around the state and who that have made modifications or have not made modifications. 71% or 187 of our districts around the state have not had to enact district wide modifications versus 75 districts or 29% that have had some type of district-wide modification. I think this is a very positive result, and in the next set of numbers really demonstrates that as well. 828 schools have not had either a school wide or a grade level modification 79% as opposed to 222 or 21% of our schools that have had some type of modification. What does this mean? This means that our administrators and our educators are continuing to do a good job of keeping kids in school knowing that every school in the state every district in the state has a virtual option. But even for those that have virtual options, they're on there stressing the importance of on site instruction, and keeping that done in a safe manner. Finally, I want to give a brief update on the number of districts that have signed up for the Binax Now testing. This is the surveillance testing that we was mentioned earlier today. 72 districts have signed up for this. And they are in the process of either having implemented that or getting the training for that. And the feedback so far has been very positive. While we're still crunching data, we can say from superintendents that have provided us feedback, they have found this to be a very effective use, or very effective method for screening their employees, their staff, and identifying cases early before those staff members get into a situation where they might expose others. Thank you.
Yes, I'm very proud to be here today, I want to make sure tell you my gratitude to the governor and Dr. Romero and Secretary Key. And not only for myself, I get so many letters from parents, from students, from coaches, but I think more importantly, from superintendents and principals, talking about how our activities and our athletics have got school back into and help kids get back into some kind of normalcy. So again, we receive that every day. And I want to pass that along to y'all because we know that y'all are the cause of that letting our kids compete. So thank you very much for that. We've had a great fall, we have finished everything that we have started so far. And we're very proud of that we thank our schools, we thank our coaches. And we think they've all done a great job following the guidelines set forth by the Department of Health, if what you see the Secretary Key reported on how many of them have not had to adjust at all. And our athletes have done a wonderful job. And we're almost to the end, we have football to finish up the next two Saturdays, and we have state cheer. But we have a lot of activities that have already finished. So again, between athletics and activities, we were very honored to, to finish and we look forward and again, my message here last time is going to be the same thing. I know out there, if you're a parent, or you're a fan, or if you're a student, or if you're an athlete, a coach, this is the most important thing that we can wear. And again, we've done a great job in the schools. And that's why we've had to we've got to finish cross country, golf, tennis, state cheer, I will state cheer is coming up, state dance, volleyball. So again, keep wearing these. I know it's not the most comfortable thing, but it will make our kids successful and make sure that they're able to finish their seasons. Thank you.
Thank you, Lance, and congratulations on a successful fall. Let's get through the winter in the same fashion. And now Larry Shackelford is with his co wash and Regional Medical Center. And and he's also on our Winter COVID 19. Task Force. It's been great, greatly beneficial. So Larry, why don't you go ahead and make your comments give us a little update.
Okay, Governor, thank you for the opportunity. It's It's my honor and privilege to be here as a representative of the governor's Winter Task Force. As a taskforce, we are meeting weekly, not only as as an entire taskforce, but also in the four workgroups. We're being very diligent in the charge to look at options and recommendations, what can we do to properly allocate resources to be sure that that we're doing what we can to reduce the spread. I would like to pause and again say thank you to the frontline health care workers. Not only here in Northwest Arkansas, but but all across Arkansas. We recognize how tirelessly that that that you work, we we understand that you're tired. And we truly thank you for for the work that's done. In terms of here in Northwest Arkansas, we do have not only the capability but the capacity to care to care for our COVID and our non COVID patients. But we have continued to see for the last several days, Washington and Benton County cases being in the top five, just today over 300 additional cases in Washington and Benton County. We are seeing over the last two or three weeks that that is resulting in more patients needing inpatient care We've grown over that period of time, from the number in northwest hospitals in the 70s to today over 110. This is a rate of growth, that that we really need to change moving forward. On the positive side, PPE is good. Testing is good. And in Northwest Arkansas, we've seen improvements in availability of testing supplies, providing adequate access, and really encouraged that turnaround times have have greatly improved. Here at Washington Regional yesterday, we tested over 480. And I don't believe we have any results more than 48 hours, currently outstanding. But this next two to four weeks is key. We know that resources, including hospitals and clinics are going to be tested. We're up for that test. But on behalf of all of the health care workers in Arkansas, I would urge you, to everyone do the right thing, we need to pull in the same direction to be sure that we're successful moving forward. I'm so pleased Dr. Romero consistently talks about wearing a mask, watching your distance, washing your hands, those that that message is, is not new, but it's more important today than ever. But as the governor mentioned earlier, we really need to watch gathering in in groups. We know that it's his Winter we spend more time inside. But if if you're going to be gathering in a group, whether they're at work or socially, be be be very cautious. Arkansas Department of Health is here that there are a resource if you have a group of 20 or more and and want to talk with them about how that group can can safely meet. I would definitely encourage that that you do. So it's time now that that that we double down our efforts. I'm encouraged that that we we've had good news, good news, in terms of vaccines, good news, in terms of the antibody treatments that are really positively impacting and keeping patients in that different non hospital. Aizen environment. But but it's it's even more critical moving forward. So with that, thank you, Governor.
Thank you, Larry, very good report. And you'll be available. If there's any questions I need to throw your direction. With that. We'll turn it over for a few questions today.
So you've met in Saline County this morning, right? And did you did I understand you to say that you got feedback, the feedback you got on restrictions on indoor gathering made you decide to address this later after talking to other communities?
There were some questions asked, we want to have clarity. And that's, you know, if you pass a do a regulation or a guideline that's out there, and it's not clear, or it causes confusion, you're doing more damage than good. And so we're trying to get this right. And there's some questions that were raised, what is it apply to, within the school environment? I wanted to make sure that we have all those answers were still way in this and so we're going to continue to work on it.
More restrictions. However,
You know, I've indicated that we want to discourage venues that have crowds that can spread the virus when there's not the social distancing the public health guidelines that are in place, we want to discourage that. I think people are actually doing their own in Saline County. A number of different events have been canceled, you know, at the Governor's Mansion events have been canceled. And so, you know, some can be done very safely. But, you know, people are making judgments. And so this is slowing down naturally. And partly because we're talking about it and the risk associated with it. We may or may not actually put it in a guideline form. We're going to wait and we're going to try to get that right and make that judgment.
In the public health forecast, they mentioned that contact tracing will be more difficult when you don't have a contact for some
Contact tracing. The I mean, they're, they're overwhelmed. I mean, you know, there's, and the biggest challenge is the nurse investigator portion of it, which is before it's turned over to the contact tracer and they have more flexibility. But the nurse investigator has been challenged and that's why we brought in, you know, 30 National Guards to assist in that. And so that's a resource challenge for us. In terms of timelines. Dr. Romero, did you want to comment any on the timelines? Dr. Cima, do you want to talk about our contact trace? Yep, it's good to....our resident expert here. Give us a little update
Yes, thank you, Governor, as the governor mentioned, we do. And Dr. Rivera mentioned, we do keep tabs on our contact tracing as well as case investigation. From a QI QA standpoint, how long is it taking, for results to get investigated, how long to get sent, the contact tracing, and so on and so forth. And as the governor mentioned, we do see a little bit of an increase in the time that it takes for cases to be investigated, that is proportional to the number of cases that we're seeing. And as a result that then, you know, the longer time it takes to investigate a case, you know, that contributes to the time that it takes to do the contact tracing. So we are keeping tabs on that we are working diligently with our, our contact tracers, and make sure our processes are as efficient as possible. But this is a numbers game at the end of the day.
Thank you. And let me emphasize that contact tracing is still very, very important. And so we need to continue to respond to these calls. And sometimes you'll get it after the fact. And many times the individual who has tested positive has already quarantined has already called a number of people and said I tested positive, you need to be aware of this and steps are taken. And so a lot of this flows naturally. But the contact tracing is still a very important part of our strategy for isolating the virus and making sure that we don't add to the spread. So it is useful, continue to respond to that. Are there any questions remotely?
governor, this is David Ramsey with the Arkansas Nonprofit News Network. A couple of questions regarding the case investigations. You said last week regarding potential restrictions that basically the most important question is where the cases are coming from and that health department data says that bars, restaurants and gyms aren't a significant source of transmission. Can you comment on whether the case investigation data is good enough? Or the methodology is designed to answer that question, because at least based on what's been publicly released, it's not clear sort of how many people are responding or whether the information that we do have is conclusive on that, on that question of whether it's coming from bars and restaurants. And second question along these lines, you said that the vast majority of cases are coming from social gatherings? Is there specific health department data regarding the frequency of transmission among family or during gatherings that take place in homes?
Alright, so Dr. Cima, do you have a comment on this? Come forward here. And so we will answer this? I'll let them answer it if we need to follow up. We can do so.
Yes, thank you regarding the information on bars, restaurants, what we put out publicly there that is a question that we asked every single case where have you been? What have you been doing the past 14 days now unfortunately, because of the long incubation period, and really, you know, the various times that people can become infected at different places, it is exceedingly difficult to pin down where exactly somebody was infected. So we're trying to capture as much detailed information as we possibly can. A lot of this information is qualitative in nature. The social gathering information, as the governor mentioned, is qualitative and in nature, we are analyzing that and we are finding, you know, social clusters that related to Halloween will be looking into social clusters related to Thanksgiving as well as that data becomes available.
Next question.
Hi, Governor. This is Allie Lynch with 5News in Northwest Arkansas and the River Valley. My question to you is what is the state's plan on distributing the vaccine, who will be the first in line to receive the vaccine?
We'll be following the CDC guidelines and the first batch of the vaccine, which hopefully will be approved this week will go to our health care workers. And then as the Moderna batches approved by the FDA, then that will move into our long term care facilities for the residents of our nursing homes and their staff. It should be noted that as the first batch goes out for our health care workers, that there will not be sufficient in the first round to vaccinate everyone. And so, we will be waiting for additional shipments to be able to conclude all of our health care workers, and then it will move on to other priorities. The first two priorities again, are the health care workers, and then the long term care residents and staff. Those are two important ones, the most vulnerable, and those that are really on the front line.
Governor, Mike McNeil at Magnolia Reporter.com, I have a question for Dr. Romero. Here in Columbia County, it's easy to walk into the health unit and get tested for COVID. However, it's my understanding that in densely populated areas like Northwest Arkansas, waits are long and getting test results takes even longer. Is that true? Are you concerned about it? And if so, what is the Health Department doing to speed up the process?
I'm gonna let obviously Dr. Romero answer that. But I would refer you back to what Larry Shackelford at Washington Regional Medical Center said earlier earlier about their testing capacity in Northwest Arkansas.
So we do have the capacity to see patients and individuals for testing up in Northwest Arkansas. One thing that's important to keep in mind is that you need to make an appointment. It's not just show up because of the scheduling of individuals. So we know that there's a press to have this done. I've not heard that people are being turned away or that there is a prolonged waiting period. But I will look into it. Our turnaround time still continues to try to reset 24 to 48 hours. I haven't heard from my epidemiologist, that that is being prolonged at this time. But again, we can follow up with that data in as soon as we're done with the press conference.
Governor, this is Alex with CHANNEL SEVEN. Yes. My first question is Are you disappointed to see Attorney General Leslie Rutledge post photos at an event with fellow GOP leaders not wearing masks, Not social distancing? My second question is as Dr. Romero is discouraging non essential travel, Have you considered reimposing any travel restrictions for out of state travelers coming to Arkansas?
Um, the first part of your question, I think the Attorney General's answered that question in public fashion. And I think we'll leave it at that. In terms of the travel restrictions. I think that's the right message that Dr. Romero communicated in the CDC, that we should be mindful that travel adds to the risk of the spread. And so if we can minimize that, and limit it to essential travel, then we ought to do that. And, you know, I know that, you know, if you've got someone across the globe that are, you know, across the states that needs to come home because of a break, you know, you've got to measure it as well, that's essential, and that's necessary for everybody's well being. But I would encourage that if you do travel, that testing should be a part of those plans. And so if you travel of necessity, look at the potential of getting a a test. And I think that would be helpful to the traveler as well as everyone else.
And Governor, this is Josh white with KAIT. I have two questions if you'll allow. Number one, the the group with the most positives, 0 to 17, 9.7%. Yet we are not doing any kind of restrictions or anything targeted to those ages. If they're the number one spreaders, why are we not targeting them? And then number two real quick back in winter in January and February this year, absenteeism is in schools hovered around 10 to 15% Because of flu. The state allowed the schools to close for four day weekends and even some for the whole week. Looking at absentee numbers now. We're well above that average and yet we're not allowing schools to really move virtual or do split of virtual and classroom. Why does it seemed easier to close for flu yet harder for Coronavirus.
I'm gonna let Secretary answer the last part of that in terms of the first part of the question. In the age group of 0 to 17, they had a 9.7% increase in the number of cases week to week. You know, they are under the same restrictions as everybody else. If they go to school, they wear a mask. If they go into a restaurant, they wear a mask. And so they have the same responsibility as everyone else. They probably in the school environment have more restrictions and someone in the average work environment actually. And it's a very, that's what makes it a safer area. So we are paying close attention to that age group and particularly, that's the school age group. And we are focusing on that. Secretary Key.
I think the premise of the question is not correct. We are indeed working with districts every day that are shifting to virtual learning. They are shifting either at a grade level or a school level, or in some cases a district level. And working with him quite well. I think the data that I mentioned earlier, certainly speaks to the fact that schools are working hard to stay open. To compare a normal flu season with COVID is simply not a good comparison. Flu season is short term, 2, 3, 4 days closure, and then those days are made up at the end of the school year. We are trying to keep the continuity of a school year going for the as many students as we possibly can. And we will continue through the second half of the school year to work with districts to make sure that they can safely transition and meet the needs of their students saw educational needs.
One last question and some of these will be available afterwards for more of his or one last question remotely. I hear.
Thank you, Governor. It's Neal Gladner in Hot Springs at KZNG. This is a question I think for Dr. Romero about vaccine distribution and that is with 25,000 cases of doses of the vaccine coming I presume they're not interchangeable. In other words, if you start with a via Pfizer vaccine, your second dose has to be Pfizer. So do we have follow up dates for other shipments? In other words, we administered 25,000 doses to health care workers. You need to know when the next 25,000 of Pfizer are coming or kind of Moderna be the second dose?
The answer is yes. But Dr. Romero.
So they can do that. The question is we will be receiving the answer. The question is today, we will be receiving a periodic intervals sufficient vaccine to keep going forward. And you're correct. Pfizer vaccine is not interchangeable, at least at this time with modern a vaccine. So a vaccinee who receives Pfizer must complete his vaccine with Pfizer. We are been told by the federal government that we will be receiving weekly outbox, or allotments of vaccine, which we'll be using to immunize new individuals and eventually, three or four weeks will receive another allotment to go back to the first group and immunize them. So it's sequential and planned. And we will also receive the same with Moderna.
Thank you. Thank you. And with that, let's conclude today and we look forward to seeing you next time. Apologize. I have a commitment. I've got a rush to but Dr. Romero will be available if there's something to follow. Thank you.