The number of people hospitalized in Arkansas with covid-19 jumped to its highest level in almost two weeks on Monday, while the state's count of cases rose by 67.
The state's death toll from the coronavirus, as tracked by the Department of Health, rose by two, to 5,796.
Health Department figures also indicated a continued slowdown in the pace of vaccinations, with the average number of doses administered each day over a rolling seven-day period dropping below 9,000 for the first time since the week ending Feb. 23.
With recoveries outpacing new cases, the number of cases in the state that were considered active fell by 137, to 1,921.
"Active cases in the state have dropped below 2,000 for the first time in two weeks, and our number of new cases is the lowest since May 3rd," Gov. Asa Hutchinson said in a tweet.
"We continue to distribute doses of the vaccine as quickly as we can, but we need your help to get us closer to the finish line."
The number of people hospitalized with covid-19 rose by 15, to 186.
It was the second daily increase in a row in the number of people hospitalized with the virus and brought the number to its highest level since May 4, when it rose to 192.
The number of the state's virus patients who were on ventilators rose by one, to 31.
The increase in cases was slightly smaller than the one a week earlier.
As a result, the average number of cases added to the state's tallies each day over a rolling seven-day period fell from about 182 as of Sunday to 180.
That was down from an average increase of 203 cases a day during the week that ended May 10.
The number of vaccine doses that had been administered, including second doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, rose by 3,084, to 1,875,646, according to the Health Department.
The increase was smaller by more than 1,400 than the one a week earlier.
As a result, the average number of doses administered each day over a rolling seven-day period fell for the third day in a row, going from more than 9,000 as of Sunday to about 8,822.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1,134,540 Arkansans, or about 37.6% of the state's population, had received one vaccine dose as of Monday.
That included 883,404 people, or about 29.3% of the population, who had been fully vaccinated.
Among the states and District of Columbia, Arkansas ranked 44th in the percentage of its population who had received at least one vaccine dose and 47th in the percentage who had been fully vaccinated.
The cases that were added to the state's tallies Monday included 45 that were confirmed through polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, tests.
The other 22 were "probable" cases, which include those identified through less-sensitive antigen tests.
The state's cumulative count of cases rose to 338,849.
That comprised 264,986 confirmed cases and 73,863 probable ones.
Pulaski County had the most new cases, 17, followed by Benton County, which had seven, and Faulkner County, which had six.
The Health Department didn't report any new cases among prison or jail inmates.
The state's death toll rose by two, to 4,599, among confirmed cases and remained at 1,197 among probable cases.
Among nursing home and assisted-living facility residents, the state count of virus deaths remained at 2,081.
The number of people who have ever been hospitalized in the state with covid-19 grew by 20, to 16,110.
The number of the state's virus patients who have ever been on a ventilator remained at 1,645.