The Arkansas Department of Health reported 1,536 new covid-19 cases on Sunday, along with 46 additional deaths that raised the state's death toll from the virus to 3,237.
"The high number of Arkansans who have died is heartbreaking," Gov. Asa Hutchinson wrote on Twitter. "As we are 5 days out from Christmas, let’s protect each other. What we do will determine how we start our new year."
The number of hospitalizations and patients on a ventilator both declined. Hospitalizations decreased by four, to 1,057, and ventilator usage decreased by seven, to 170.
The Health Department's total count of active cases in Arkansas decreased by 65, to 23,001.
Of the new cases reported on Sunday, 1,316 were classified as confirmed based on polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, tests, while 220 cases were classified as probable based on faster, less-sensitive tests.
Pulaski County led the state in terms of confirmed and probable new cases, with 191, followed by Benton County with 169.
Results from 12,172 PCR tests and 1,235 of the less-sensitive, rapid antigen tests were reported in the state on Saturday.
The cumulative number of reported positive cases in the state since the start of the pandemic reached 201,650 on Sunday, one day after the state's tally surpassed 200,000. The number of people considered recovered from the coronavirus has reached 175,387.