Arkansas' covid-19 death toll surpassed 1,400 Saturday, and the daily count of infections increased by 746.
The Arkansas Department of Health reported 16 new coronavirus-related deaths Saturday.
Fifteen of those deaths were from confirmed covid-19 cases and one was declared a probable virus-related death.
The ongoing increase in the number of deaths is worrisome, but consistent with what is understood about the health outlook across the state, state Epidemiologist Jennifer Dillaha said.
Diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure -- contributors regularly linked to coronavirus deaths -- are common in a state where two-thirds of the population is overweight or obese.
"The reality is that certain people simply won't survive the virus when they get it," Dillaha said.
[CORONAVIRUS: Click here for our complete coverage » arkansasonline.com/coronavirus]
"Our population is susceptible to the chronic conditions that lead to greater risk of [coronavirus-related death]," she said. "Those medical conditions make it harder for our bodies to be successful to fighting the virus off when we get infected."
The statewide cases added Saturday included 542 positives that were confirmed through polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, tests. The other 204 cases were identified through antigen tests. Antigen-test positives are recorded as probable cases.
On Friday, Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced that the state had received its first shipment of 59,000 credit-card-size antigen test kits. They were purchased by the federal government and distributed to states, Hutchinson said.
[Interactive Arkansas map not showing up above? Click here to see it: arkansasonline.com/arvirus]
The governor has continued to emphasize the state's increase in testing.
"We continue to see remarkable testing numbers with over 11,000 total tests yesterday," Hutchinson wrote Saturday on Twitter. "This virus can affect anyone and it's more important than ever to wear a mask, keep your distance, and frequently wash your hands."
Dillaha said testing has been improved in a number of ways. Commercial laboratories have greatly increased their capacity for doing tests and have significantly reduced their backlogs. Additionally, the state Health Department can run close to 3,000 tests per day, a significant improvement from months ago.
Another testing machine is expected to be up and running soon at Baptist Health-Little Rock, which will further add to the capacity, Dillaha said.
Health Department numbers from Saturday show that 74.2% of the deaths from covid-19 have occurred among people in the 65-and-older age group, and 14.9% were in the 55-64 range.
The death toll from the virus rose from 1,391 reported Friday to 1,407 on Saturday, according to figures released by the Health Department.
[Interactive tables not showing up above? Click here to see them: arkansasonline.com/schools]
Hospitalizations statewide rose by six to 481, and the number of people on ventilators rose by six to 95, officials said.
Overall, 5,527 Arkansans have been hospitalized for treatment of coronavirus-related illnesses since the start of the pandemic.
The state's cumulative case count rose to 86,525, which translates to about 2.7% of the population.
Dillaha cited a study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicating that 4.3% of Arkansans have covid-19 antibodies.
The CDC got that estimate by testing blood samples taken from commercial labs testing for other reasons, Dillaha said.
"This is one infectious virus," she said. "That's why it's important that we all do our part to prevent the spread. Everyone should understand the possibility that they can spread that virus to someone else even when they don't know they have it."
Health officials have reported a total of 82,851 confirmed covid-19 cases and another 3,674 probable cases.
The Health Department has said it treats confirmed and probable cases the same for contact-tracing purposes.
Everyone who has a positive result from either test, along with everyone the person has come in contact with, is told to isolate.
Saturday's increase of 746 confirmed and probable cases was the state's lowest daily increase since Tuesday.
