Arkansas' count of coronavirus cases rose Friday by 1,011 — the third-highest one-day increase since the start of the pandemic.
The state's death toll from the virus, as tracked by the Arkansas Department of Health, rose by six, to 521.
After falling for two days, the number of patients hospitalized with the virus rose by nine, to 523, just below Tuesday's peak of 526 patients who were hospitalized.
The number of patients who were on ventilators increased by five, to 116.
The state's cumulative case count rose to 48,039.
The number of cases that were considered active increased to 7,158, while 805 Arkansans were newly classified as having recovered. The state as of Friday afternoon reported 6,224 tests over the previous 24 hours.
Although the number of active cases has been increasing for several days, it remained Friday below its peak of 7,167 on July 20.
At his daily news conference on the pandemic, Gov. Asa Hutchinson also announced that he will seek approval to use $20 million in federal coronavirus relief funds to provide up to two weeks of paid leave for public school teachers and support staff, such as cafeteria workers and bus drivers, who test positive for covid-19 or need to quarantine due to exposure to someone with the virus.
Education Secretary Johnny Key said school employees would be able to tap the extra leave before using their normal paid time off.
The additional leave would be available through the end of this calendar year, when the state's $1.25 billion grant under the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act expires.
Hutchinson said he would seek the endorsement of his proposal from the CARES Act Steering committee. It would then go to state lawmakers for their approval.
Hutchinson also signed an executive order Friday allowing county clerks to begin preparing absentee ballots for counting up to 15 days before the Nov. 3 general election.
The clerks may not open the envelopes containing the ballots until 8:30 a.m. on Election Day, however.
Hutchinson said requests for absentee ballots have increased "rather dramatically" due to concerns about the virus.
Echoing an opinion voiced earlier by Secretary of State John Thurston, the order also says concerns about health risks due to the pandemic will allow a voter to request an absentee ballot for the reason that the voter will be "unable to vote in person on the day of the election due to illness of physical disability."
Friday was just the third day since the start of the pandemic when the statewide case count rose by more than 1,000.
Hutchinson said 100 of the new cases were among inmates at the Department of Corrections' Wrightsville complex.
2:34 p.m.: WATCH: Governor, state health officials give virus update
Gov. Asa Hutchinson and state health officials will provide an update on Arkansas' covid-19 response at 1:30 p.m.
The total number of coronavirus cases reported in Arkansas remained at 47,028 Friday afternoon, according to a state website. The death toll remained at 515.
Check back to watch the live video.
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This story was originally published at 12:02 p.m.