Already at their highest levels since March, the numbers of covid-19 patients in Arkansas hospitals and on ventilators continued climbing on Friday, as did the number of active cases of the virus.
However, Friday was the second consecutive day in which the number of new daily cases was smaller than the increase from a week earlier. The state reported 276 new daily cases on Friday, down by 117 from last week. The 393 new daily cases posted on June 11 marked the state's largest one-day increase since March 16.
The state's death toll from the virus, as tracked by the Arkansas Department of Health, rose by five, to 5,874.
“You are at risk of getting COVID-19 and spreading the virus if you fail to wear a mask in crowded spaces and you have not been vaccinated,” Gov. Asa Hutchinson said in a tweet. “This virus will not go away without each one doing his or her part. We continue to see the effectiveness of these vaccines.”
The number of virus patients in the state's hospitals rose by 16, to 235, while the number on ventilators rose by two, to 58.
It was the highest level since March 18 for the number of Arkansans hospitalized, and the highest since March 16 for the number on ventilators.
After rising to its highest level since March 17 a day earlier, the number of covid-19 patients in intensive care units remained at 116.
With new cases outpacing recoveries, the number of cases that were considered active rose by 80, to 2,414, its highest level since March 21.
After reaching a nearly three-month high of 247 as of Wednesday, the average daily increase in the state's case count over a rolling seven-day period fell Friday to 230.
Meanwhile, the increase in vaccine doses that providers reported having administered, including second doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, was 6,361. It was the third consecutive daily increase in doses that was smaller than the one a week earlier.
The average number of doses administered each day over a rolling seven-day period fell Friday to 5,066.
More details in Saturday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.