Since the beginning of this week, active COVID-19 cases in Bradley County have nearly doubled.
According to the Arkansas Department of Health’s COVID website, a few days ago Bradley County was reporting 16 cases. As of Friday, 31 cases have been officially confirmed locally.
This steep increase in cases in such a short period of time is an alarming sign as the rest of Arkansas has seen the same jump. Yesterday, Arkansas reported almost 5,000 news cases in a 24 hour period. The day prior, December 29, Arkansas reported nearly 4,000 new cases.
The rise is in part being attributed to the highly contagious omicron variant and a lagging vaccination rate statewide. Only 53% of Arkansas’s population of those five years old and older and fully vaccinated.
Although Bradley County has been a leader in Arkansas in terms of vaccinations, 31.5 percent of local residents eligible still have not been vaccinated, and 10.8 percent are currently only partially vaccinated.
Arkansan’s have suffered a great loss since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, with 9,131 people statewide losing their life to COVID-19. In Bradley County, 42 people have died due to the highly transmissible virus.
Residents are urged to do their part to help your fellow community members by getting vaccinated as soon as possible.
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