JONESBORO — Craighead County saw marked improvement this week in its fight against the the coronavirus.
In fact, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has removed all Northeast Arkansas counties from the high community level classification in its latest COVID-19 Data Tracker, released Thursday night.
Now, NEA, with the exception of Jackson County, is rated low level, due to the sharp reduction in new cases between Sept. 22 and Wednesday.
Jackson County now has a medium community level due to a higher than average number of hospitalizations.
The CDC’s weekly COVID-19 Data Tracker compares standardized data across the U.S. In addition to new infections, it factors in hospitalizations and staffing levels at those hospitals serving those counties.
In this week’s report, the CDC said Craighead County had an average of 120.55 new infections per 100,000 population (133 total), down from 204.84. Hospitalizations dropped almost in half.
Greene County, with 61 new cases, had a rate of 134.58 per 100,000.
Jackson County, with 29 new cases, showed a rate of 173.46 per 100,000. Hospitalizations averagedf 12.6 per 100,000.
Craighead, Clay, Cross, Greene, Lawrence, Poinsett and Randolph counties each had a hospitalization rate of 7 per 100,000. Mississippi County had no hospitalizations.
The highest infection rate in the state, according to the Data Tracker, was Monroe, with 233.85 per 100,000. Monroe and Arkansas counties were the only two that were classified as high community level in the latest report.
On Friday, the Arkansas Department of Health reported a continued decline in new cases, but also disclosed another 17 deaths, including one Greene County.
The department reported 361 new infections statewide, with 22 in Craighead County. Pulaski County had the most at 54, followed by Benton County with 26.
Active cases dropped another 271 statewide to 4,862. Hospitalizations dropped by 16 to 215 statewide, including 28 in Northeast Arkansas hospitals. That’s down by four from Thursday.
Friday Northeast Arkansas COVID-19 cases by county:
Craighead –22 new cases, 282 active cases.
Greene – 4 new cases, 101 active cases.
Lawrence – 2 new cases, 85 active cases.
Poinsett – 3 new cases, 48 active cases.
Mississippi – 4 new cases, 78 active cases.
Jackson – 5 new cases, 52 active cases.
Randolph – 1 new case, 28 active cases
Cross – 2 new cases, 25 active cases.
Clay – 3 new cases, 28 active cases.
