Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Arkansas health officials warn Delta driving rise in child COVID hospitalizations; hospitals urge vaccination
Summary
State health officials and Arkansas Children's Hospital told a Senate committee that the Delta variant is now predominant in Arkansas, coinciding with a sharp rise in pediatric hospital and ICU admissions; hospital leaders urged vaccination and layered protections to avoid overwhelming staff capacity.
State health officials and pediatric hospital leaders told the Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee on Aug. 2 that the Delta variant has become the dominant strain in Arkansas and is linked with rising illness among children.
"We began seeing the Delta variant increase in May and June, and now it is the predominant variant. It is 86 percent of all the sequences that we obtained for variants in the state," Jennifer Dillehay, chief medical officer for the Arkansas Department of Health, told committee members. She said the state was reporting 19,739 active cases, 1,220 people hospitalized and 42 deaths on the day of the briefing.
The officials highlighted steep increases in pediatric cases and severe illness. "For children who…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
