ARKANSAS, USA — Arkansas health officials are asking people to get vaccinated and booster shots for COVID-19 due to concerns surrounding holiday travel.
The Arkansas Department of Health is confirming 63 cases of the omicron variant in our state. This comes less than two weeks after the first reported case entered Arkansas on Dec. 17.
"So, we find ourselves in the middle of what we're calling an Oomicron variant surge," said Dr. Jennifer Dillaha with the Arkansas Department of Health.
Dr. Ben De Miranda, President and CEO of Crossroads Telemedicine works with Natural State Labs, which has a mobile COVID-19 testing site set up at the Northwest Arkansas Mall. He says omicron cases are doubling every two days which is worrying state health officials too, because of the lack of proper treatment for omicron like they do for the delta variant.
"What many of us are hoping is that omicron is going to be at least a bit less severe than delta which may mean that we'd have less people in the hospital," said Dr. Robert Hopkins, UAMS professor of internal medicine.
According to data from the Northwest Arkansas Council, hospitalizations in NWA are up slightly. In Benton and Washington Counties alone, 132 new cases of COVID-19 were reported Monday, with 72 patients currently hospitalized.
"Please, get vaccinated,” said Dr. Hopkins. “Get your booster…only about 15% of Arkansans that are eligible have gotten their booster dose."
Health officials are also calling for holiday travelers to get tested for the virus before heading back to work.
Dr. Ahmad Brown with Natural State Labs says Arkansans are already doing just that.
"You know we're actually seeing a surge already that started probably a couple of weeks ago, and we are seeing it ramp up expeditiously right now at our drive-through locations," Dr. Brown said.
The testing line outside the Northwest Arkansas Mall usually closes at 3:30 p.m. However, Monday night, cars were still in line to get tested at 5 p.m.
That’s why doctors urge you to plan ahead and say you should also allow yourself time to wait before testing.
"Ideally five to seven days is after I known exposure after traveling is the most appropriate time to get tested," Dr. De Miranda said.
Doctors say you shouldn’t get tested any earlier than three days after possible exposure for accurate test results.