Garland County continues to see rising numbers of COVID-19.
The Hot Springs/Garland County COVID-19 Task Force is only meeting as needed during the summer months, but Shelby provides his weekly COVID-19 statistic update electronically to the group on Tuesday, May 31.
For the week beginning on May 22, there were 54 new cases reported, compared to the previous weeks’ 37 and 30. Active cases in the county increased by nine to 79, as of Tuesday. “In the past three weeks, we have gone from 49 to 70 and now to 79,” said Shelby. “So, at this time, it is obvious we are in an upward trend, and our absolute numbers are very much like April and May of last year, which led to our bug surge in July and August.”
There was one COVID-related death reported, bringing the county’s cumulative death total to 512.
Representatives from CHI St. Vincent and National Park Medical Center reported having no hospitalized COVID-19 patients, as of Wednesday, June 1.
“A lot has happened in the past year, including vaccinations, immunity from infection and a changing variant, but I do think we need to remain vigilant,” Shelby concluded.