JOHNSON, Arkansas — The Arkansas Department of Health reported another round of record number COVID-19 cases Wednesday, Jan. 5, with Washington and Benton counties having more than 2,000 active cases. In Sebastian County, they have just under 900, and Crawford County almost has 400.
There are currently 819 people in the hospital due to COVID-19 statewide. 103 of those patients are in Northwest Arkansas and 95 are in the River Valley. Dr. Marti Sharkey with the Fayetteville Board of Health says they expect our hospitalization numbers to keep increasing in the coming weeks due to a large number of cases.
"Vaccines and boosters are critical with this variant. We are seeing very mild illness in people who are vaccinated and boosted, Dr. Sharkey said. "In people who are just vaccinated, they are little bit more sick. And people who aren't vaccinated at all are unfortunately the ones we're seeing ending up in the hospital."
Dr. Jennifer Dillaha with the Arkansas Department of Health says if you develop symptoms stay home and figure out where to get tested. She says if you can't get tested, you need to stay home for five days under the current CDC guidelines. If you are fever-free after that, you should wear a surgical or KN-95 mask for another five days.
"People who have been exposed, if they are fully vaccinated and boosted they do not need to quarantine. They need to wear a mask wherever they go for at least 10 days," said Dillaha. People who are not vaccinated or boosted need to quarantine for five days and then wear a mask for another 10 days.
In less than two weeks, ADH will quit contact tracing, and they will only do case investigations for people under the age of 18. She says they made this decision because of the number of cases, and they need to focus on supporting schools.
"We don't have sufficient case investigators or contract tracing for all of these people who are now infected or are having to quarantine. So, this actually puts more responsibility on the general public," Dr. Sharkey told 5NEWS.