Food Safety
Today at 3:58 a.m. The Arkansas Department of Health regulates the sale of food at establishments that include restaurants, bars, day cares, schools, grocery stores, convenience stores, bed and breakfast facilities, hotels/motels, mobile units and concession stands. Inspections are made unannounced by environmental health specialists. Electronic copies of retail food inspection reports are available on the Arkansas Food Inspection Portal. To access the portal, visit the food protection page on the Arkansas Department of Health website at www.healthy.arkansas.gov. Recent reports include:
• KAYTEE'S KITCHEN, 300 Clark Road, White Hall. Date of opening inspection July 28. Mobile is self contained and designed to be readily moveable. All rights reserved. This document may not be reprinted without the express written permission of Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc.
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Food Safety

Food Safety
bySpecial to The Commercial|Today at 2:11 a.m. The Arkansas Department of Health regulates the sale of food at establishments that include restaurants, bars, day cares, schools, grocery stores, convenience stores, bed and breakfast facilities, hotels/motels, mobile units and concession stands. Inspections are made unannounced by environmental health specialists. Electronic copies of retail food inspection reports are available on the Arkansas Food Inspection Portal. To access the portal, visit the food protection page on the Arkansas Department of Health website at www.healthy.arkansas.gov. Recent reports include:
• DOLLAR GENERAL STORE, 713 N. University Drive. Date of inspection July 14. Observed food stored directly on the floor. Food must be stored six inches above the floor to be compliance with established regulations. •
All rights reserved. This document may not be reprinted without the express written permission of Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc.
Material from the Associated Press is Copyright © 2022, Associated Press and may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. Neither these AP materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and noncommercial use. The AP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing. All rights reserved.

New infections show signs of leveling offby Andy Davis |Today at 4:55 a.m.
Medical personnel prepare a covid-19 test for Trey Berry, a junior at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, in this Jan. 6, 2021 file photo. The testing was part of a drive-up testing clinic hosted by the Arkansas Department of Health in the parking lot across from Baum-Walker Stadium at the corner of Razorback Road and 15th Street in Fayetteville. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/David Gottschalk)
Arkansas posted its largest daily increase in covid-19 deaths in more than three months Wednesday as the number of people hospitalized in the state with the virus continued to climb. Continuing a recent plateau in newly reported infections, however, the state's count of cases rose by 1,835 -- larger by 100 than the increase Tuesday but only by 25 than the one the previous Wednesday. The state's death toll from the virus, as tracked by the Department of Health, rose by 11, to 11,654. It was the most deaths reported in a single day since April 4. State Epidemiologist Mike Cima said nine of the deaths reported Wednesday happened within the past month. The other two were from earlier in June, he said. Including the ones reported Wednesday, a total of 34 deaths had been reported over the past week, up from 24 the previous week. Given the wave of infections the state has experienced in recent weeks, it's possible the number of deaths reported each day will be elevated for a while, Cima said. But he said hospitalizations haven't risen to the same degree as the state's new case numbers, and he expects any uptick in deaths to be even less pronounced. "I don't expect us to approach 40 deaths a day like we were in the peak omicron surge" this past winter, he said. He stopped short of saying the state's new cases had peaked but called it "a good sign" that the number Wednesday was only slightly higher than the one a week earlier. Also, he said the percentage of the state's coronavirus tests that are positive had fallen slightly. Over the seven-day span ending Tuesday, it was 21.4%, down from the 21.5% that was initially reported for the week ending Monday and 22% the week ending July 12. "This is the first time in quite a number of weeks where that percent positivity was lower week over week, which is definitely a positive sign," Cima said. Already at its highest level since March 1, the number hospitalized rose Wednesday by six, to 442. After falling by one a day earlier, the number of the state's virus patients who were in intensive care rose back up by one, to 72. The number on ventilators, which rose by one Tuesday, remained Wednesday at 14. CASES BY COUNTY
Pulaski County had the most new cases, 292, on Wednesday, followed by Washington County with 112, Faulkner County with 95, Craighead County with 94 and Benton and Sebastian counties, which each had 89. The state's cumulative count of cases since March 2020 rose to 890,943. Growing for the second day in a row, the average daily increase in the state's case count over a rolling seven-day period rose to 1,360. That was still down from an average of 1,422 a day the previous week, however, and a recent high of 1,506 a day the week ending July 12. At its highest level since Feb. 13, the number of cases in the state that were considered active rose Wednesday by 204, to 16,946, as new cases outpaced recoveries. Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock and Arkansas Children's Northwest in Springdale had a total of 12 covid-19 patients Wednesday, down from 15 on Tuesday and 14 the previous Wednesday, spokeswoman Hilary DeMillo said. At its 11 hospitals around the state, Baptist Health had 89 covid-19 patients, up from 78 a week earlier, spokeswoman Cara Wade said in an email. "This is nowhere near our record of 368 patients hospitalized with covid-19 back in January, but it's certainly more than we were seeing two months ago," Wade said. The number of covid-19 patients as of Wednesday wasn't large enough to require any adjustments to increase hospital capacity, she said. "Though this strain of covid-19 is extremely contagious, we aren't seeing the large numbers of inpatients we were seeing earlier this year," Wade said. "While we hope there is not another major surge, we are prepared for any increase in covid-19 patients and certainly have the experience. Baptist Health's goal is to be there for any patients in need." She said the patients on Wednesday included 20 who were in intensive care and nine on ventilators. "The severity of illness continues to be relatively mild compared to previous covid-19 surges," Wade said. "The majority of those hospitalized have other contributing health conditions that make them more vulnerable." Meanwhile, she said 100 of the health system's 11,000 employees were out for reasons related to covid-19. "This is up 26 over this time last week, so we are continuing to see an upward trend," Wade said. Print Headline: Day’s 11 covid deaths a 3-month state high
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Arkansas’ covid deaths up by 11, largest daily increase in more than 3 months

Baptist Health-Fort Smith reopened COVID unit, recent case numbers declining
Recent Increased numbers of positive COVID-19 cases in the Fort Smith area led to the reopening of a COVID unit at at least one area hospital, but numbers are already dropping, according to one physician. The Arkansas Department of Health COVID dashboard listed 801 known active COVID cases in Sebastian County Tuesday (July 19). Crawford County had 303 known active cases. There were 16,742 known active cases throughout the state. While this is dramatically lower than the 2,621 active cases in Sebastian County about seven months ago on Jan. 14 when the more transmittable Omicron variant of COVID-19 was sweeping through the state, the recent uptick in numbers of infected patients led Baptist Health-Fort Smith to reopen its COVID unit last week, according to a hospital official. As of Tuesday, there were 18 COVID patients at Baptist Health-Fort Smith, said Alicia Agent hospital marketing manager. Nine of those patients are in a COVID critical care unit. Six of those are on ventilators. Baptist Health Van Buren had no COVID patients as of Tuesday. Those numbers were not much different from Thursday (July 14) when there were 19 COVID patients at Baptist Health-Fort Smith. Of those, six were in a COVID critical care unit, where two were on ventilators. There were none at Baptist Health Van Buren. On Friday (July 15), there were 10 COVID-positive patients hospitalized at Mercy Fort Smith with four in the intensive care unit, said Mardi Taylor, senior media relations and communications specialist with Mercy Fort Smith. While there were still 10 COVID-positive patients hospitalized at Mercy Tuesday, there was only one in ICU, she said. “We’ve seen a significant uptick in cases in our ERs but not many people are requiring hospitalization. We’re not seeing a capacity issue at the moment,” said Rep. Dr. Lee Johnson, R-Greenwood. Johnson is also the medical director for Fort Smith EMS and Southwest EMS and a practicing emergency room physician. Johnson said he is seeing fewer cases this week and thinks the virus peaked in the area last week. Statewide, the ADH reported Tuesday that new known COVID cases continued rising with more than 1,000 reported in a day. The ADH reported 1,735 new cases Tuesday. There are 16,742 known active cases throughout the state, according to the ADH dashboard. There are 436 COVID patients hospitalized in Arkansas, an increase of one since Monday. There was also one more patient on a ventilator in the state, bringing the total number to 14. There were 17 reported in ICU with COVID, down one from Monday. Previous post

Baptist Health-Fort Smith reopened COVID unit, recent case numbers declining

Food Safety
Today at 3:07 a.m. The Arkansas Department of Health regulates the sale of food at establishments that include restaurants, bars, day cares, schools, grocery stores, convenience stores, bed and breakfast facilities, hotels/motels, mobile units and concession stands. Inspections are made unannounced by environmental health specialists. Electronic copies of retail food inspection reports are available on the Arkansas Food Inspection Portal. To access the portal, visit the food protection page on the Arkansas Department of Health website at www.healthy.arkansas.gov. Recent reports include:
• SUBWAY, 7401 Dollarway Road, White Hall. Date of inspection July 6. Cold cut deli meat (50 degrees F), roast beef (49 degrees F), banana peppers (48 degrees F), and sliced cucumbers (43 degrees F) in the prep coolers are out of safe temperature range. Time/Temperature Control for Safety (TCS) Foods shall be kept cold at a temperature of 41.0 degrees F or below, as measured by an internal probe thermometer, to limit bacterial growth. Employee told the inspector that the food had been out there since this morning (around 10 a.m.) Inspector told her that the food should be discarded that is out of safe temperature range and if kept in that cooler should be kept at a maximum time of 4 hours with a time log and then discarded until it can be repaired. Observed a hole in the pipe of the hand washing sink in the prep area. Pipes should be repaired so that there is no leak. Permit is not current. It is unlawful to operate a retail food establishment without a valid permit. Contact the billing office at (501) 661-2171 to ensure that you are in compliance with the law. • SUBWAY, 7401 Dollarway Road, White Hall. Date of follow-up inspection July 13. No violations reported. • RANDALL L. WILLIAMS CORRECTIONAL FACILITY, 7206 W. Seventh Ave., P.O. Box 6408. Date of follow-up inspection July 5. The temperature of the water in the automatic dishwasher that uses hot water to sanitize did not get above 159.8 degrees F. The temperature of the fresh hot water SANITIZING rinse as it enters the manifold may not be more than 90°C (194°F), or less than: (1) For a stationary rack, single temperature machine, 74°C (165°F); or (2) For all other machines, 82°C (180°F). Establishment is using another sink in the kitchen as a hand washing sink. They have an out of order sign on the hand washing sink that does not have hot water. • RANDALL L. WILLIAMS CORRECTIONAL FACILITY, 7206 W. Seventh Ave., P.O. Box 6408. Date of follow-up inspection July 12. No violations reported. • D'CORA'S CUSTOM CAKES, 700 E. Harding Ave. Date of inspection into complaint July 8. No violations observed pertaining to complaint during inspection. • EL PARIAN MEXICAN RESTAURANT, 8420 Dollarway Road, White Hall. Date of follow-up inspection July 1. Beans (48 degrees F) in the walk in cooler and salsa (44 degrees F) and orange juice (45 degrees F) in the reach in refrigerator at the front are out of safe temperature range. Time/Temperature Control for Safety (TCS) Foods shall be kept cold at a temperature of 41.0 degrees F or below, as measured by an internal probe thermometer, to limit bacterial growth. Observed single use buckets being reused to store food in. Single use containers should not be reused. Observed an accumulation of dust/debris on and around ceiling vents throughout the kitchen. Clean the physical facilities as often as necessary to keep them clean. • HAZEL ENTERPRISES INC--DBA HAZEL GOURMET DELI, 2201 W. 17th Ave. Date of inspection June 17. Turkey (49 degrees F), hash browns (55 degrees F), and cheese (56 degrees F) in the deli cooler are out of safe temperature range. Time/Temperature Control for Safety (TCS) Foods shall be kept cold at a temperature of 41.0 degrees F or below, as measured by an internal probe thermometer, to limit bacterial growth. Observed insect tape over food prep areas. Insect control devices are designed to retain the insect within the device, not be located over a food prep area and in a manner that prevents dead insects and insect fragments from getting into food, equipment, utensils, and linens and unwrapped single-service and single-use articles. Insect tape was removed from food prep areas during inspection. Observed several flies in kitchen area. Maintain the premises free of insects, rodents, and other pests. The presence of insects, rodents, and other pests shall be controlled to eliminate their presence on the PREMISES by (A) Routinely inspecting incoming shipments of FOOD and supplies; (B) Routinely inspecting the PREMISES for evidence of pests; (C) Using methods, if pests are found, such as trapping devices or other means of pest control and (D) Eliminating harborage conditions. • HAZEL ENTERPRISES INC--DBA HAZEL GOURMET DELI, 2201 W. 17th Ave. Date of follow-up inspection June 23. Turkey (48 degrees F), diced onions (50 degrees F), and diced tomatoes (50 degrees F) in the deli cooler are out of safe temperature range. Time/Temperature Control for Safety (TCS) Foods shall be kept cold at a temperature of 41.0 degrees F or below, as measured by an internal probe thermometer, to limit bacterial growth. • HAZEL ENTERPRISES INC--DBA HAZEL GOURMET DELI, 2201 W. 17th Ave. Date of follow-up inspection June 30. Gyro (45 degrees F) and eggs and ham and cheese loaf (51 degrees F) in deli cooler are out of safe temperature range. Time/Temperature Control for Safety (TCS) Foods shall be kept cold at a temperature of 41.0 degrees F or below, as measured by an internal probe thermometer, to limit bacterial growth. Inspector recommended all food be stored in the walk in cooler or pizza cooler that is in the deli cooler until the deli cooler can be fixed. Print Headline: Food Safety

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is one of 11 agencies that compose the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The NCI, established under the National Cancer Institute Act of 1937, is the Federal Government's principal agency for cancer research and training. The National Cancer Act of 1971 broadened the scope and responsibilities of the NCI and created the National Cancer Program. Over the years, legislative amendments have maintained the NCI authorities and responsibilities and added new information dissemination mandates as well as a requirement to assess the incorporation of state-of-the-art cancer treatments into clinical practice.The National Cancer Institute coordinates the National Cancer Program, which conducts and supports research, training, health information dissemination, and other programs with respect to the cause, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of cancer, rehabilitation from cancer, and the continuing care of cancer patients and the families of cancer patients.

National Cancer Institute

Baptist Health provides health care services to people in Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia. It is based in Jacksonville, Florida.

Baptist Health

Philander Smith College is a four-year liberal arts institution affiliated with the United Methodist Church and the United Negro College Fund.

Philander Smith College

CARTI

Arkansas Department of Health is a centralized health department, operating health units in each of the state's 75 counties. ADH works to protect, improve and promote the health of all Arkansans with the support of dedicated employees and public and private partners.

Name	Jim Carter
Work History	CARTI
Title	Chief Information Officer
Status	Current

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