The state reached a record high of 1,155 hospitalized covid-19 patients on Monday, while the number of virus patients on ventilators matched an all-time high record of 201 set previously at the end of November, according to Health Department data.
There were 55 more Arkansans who died from the virus -- just second to the record of 58 set on Dec. 16 and Dec. 21.
"It will take a few days to know whether the increase in hospitalizations is the result of buildup after the long Christmas weekend," Gov. Asa Hutchinson said in a news release. "Regardless, the high number of cases continues to strain our health care system. Regretfully, we also have an additional 55 deaths in Arkansas from COVID-19. The importance of following guidance from the Department of Health cannot be overstated."
There were 1,651 new covid-19 cases added Monday, bringing the cumulative total to 216,528.
There have been 3,537 deaths from the virus since it hit the state in March.
There were 378 covid-19 patients in ICUs, meaning that 67% of the state's 1,154 critical care beds are full.
The number of cases that were considered active dropped by 623 to 20,831.
Read Tuesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
3:56 p.m.: Hutchinson praises Trump for signing virus bill
Gov. Asa Hutchinson lauded President Donald Trump on Monday for signing into law a massive bipartisan bill that, among other things, divvies up billions of dollars for states to procure vaccines and treatments to help fight the coronavirus pandemic.
"It is great news for Arkansans that the latest COVID-19 Relief bill has been signed by @realDonaldTrump," Hutchinson, a Republican like Trump, tweeted. "This will help our small businesses, individuals, schools and the state with vaccine distribution."
The initial round of virus shots started two weeks ago in Arkansas and went to health care workers. The state announced last week that two facilities will be built to provide over 100 more hospital beds in case they are needed after the state hit a record high number of hospitalizations of covid-19 patients.
Trump approved the $2 trillion-plus bill late Sunday while in Florida, where he is spending the holidays, after refusing to act on it and sparking political chaos in Washington, with the threat of a shutdown of federal agencies plus a lapse in unemployment benefits for millions of Americans.
[CORONAVIRUS: Click here for our complete coverage » arkansasonline.com/coronavirus]
Besides added unemployment benefits and $600 relief payments to families, the package provides money for businesses, transit systems and much more. It also extends pandemic-era protections against evictions.
Trump signed the bill while demanding larger $2,000 pandemic relief checks for families, though that effort was likely to fail and put him at odds with other Republicans. Democrats support the larger stipends, but Trump's Republican allies in the Senate oppose more spending.
Arkansas has seen 3,482 covid-19 related deaths to date, according to researchers from Johns Hopkins University, whose researchers have been at the forefront of the global response to covid-19. That death count is the 16th highest per capita in the U.S. at 115.5 deaths per 100,000 people.
One in every 228 people in Arkansas tested positive in the past week, according to Johns Hopkins.
– The Associated Press