Arkansas' reported death toll from the coronavirus topped 5,000 on Thursday, less than 11 months after the first covid-19 deaths were reported in the state.
The death toll since March, as tracked by the Arkansas Department of Health, rose by 24, to 5,009.
For the second day in a row, the spread of the virus showed signs of accelerating. The state's count of cases rose by 2,469.
That was a larger increase than the one the day before, and it was an increase of more than 500 cases from the total added to the state's tallies the previous Thursday, Jan. 28.
After rising Wednesday, the number of people hospitalized with covid-19 in the state fell by 69, to 815.
But the number of patients who were on ventilators rose by three, to 145.
"The best news today is that our hospitalizations decreased by 69; but it is disappointing that our deaths because of COVID-19 have now exceeded 5,000 Arkansans," Gov. Asa Hutchinson said in a statement.
"Our heart goes out to those families who have lost loved ones. All of this is a reminder that our actions make a difference."
Thursday was the second consecutive day in which the increase in the state's case count was larger than the one a week earlier.
The average number of cases added to the state's tallies each day over a rolling seven-day period rose by 82, to 1,720.