After rising a day earlier, the number of people hospitalized in Arkansas with covid-19 fell Friday by seven, to 161, the lowest number since June 7.
The decrease came as Arkansas' count of coronavirus cases rose by 144 — the fourth consecutive daily increase that was smaller than the one a week earlier.
The state's death toll from the virus, as tracked by the Arkansas Department of Health, rose by three, to 5,639.
“We continue to see declining cases in our COVID-19 numbers," Gov. Asa Hutchinson said in a statement.
"We are not increasing in cases like we see in many other states. Let’s all be mindful over Easter that we must continue to guard against the spread of the virus. Get a vaccine this weekend because this helps everyone. Yesterday, we saw an increase of over 29,000 vaccine doses administered.”
Friday's daily increase in coronavirus cases was 67 smaller than the one a day earlier, and 40 smaller than the one the previous Friday, March 26.
Over a rolling seven-day period, the average number of cases added to the state's tallies each day fell by almost six, to 151.
After rising Thursday, the number of cases that were considered active fell by 40, to 1,684, the lowest level since May 25.
The number of Arkansas virus patients who were on ventilators remained unchanged Friday at 26.
More details in Saturday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.