The number of people hospitalized with covid-19 in Arkansas fell Thursday for the second day in a row, reaching its lowest level in more than two weeks, while the state's count of deaths from the virus rose by seven.
The state's count of cases rose by 197 -- a smaller increase than both the one a day earlier and the previous Thursday.
"Today's report shows a decrease in hospitalizations and active cases compared to this time a week ago," Gov. Asa Hutchinson said in a tweet.
"While we are seeing hopeful COVID-19 progress, let's continue this trend by ensuring we all play a role in protecting others."
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Meanwhile, the state Department of Health reported that the number of rewards distributed to people for receiving a vaccine dose fell Wednesday, the second day the prizes could be claimed at the department's 92 local health units around the state.
The department said it handed out scratch-off lottery tickets or gift certificates for hunting and fishing licenses to 129 people Wednesday, down from 144 Tuesday.
After falling by 11 Wednesday, the number of patients hospitalized with the virus fell Thursday by 10, to 180.
The death toll, as tracked by the Department of Health, rose to 5,842.
The increase in deaths Thursday was the largest since May 18, when the state's toll rose by nine.
State Epidemiologist Jennifer Dillaha said all of the deaths reported Thursday happened within the past month.
"I think the numbers were pretty consistent with where they have been lately, around 200 new cases," Dillaha said.
"I'm pleased to see the hospitalizations are down a little bit, but we had seven deaths, and that's a little bit higher than just the two or three that we've been reporting lately, if any."
After rising a day earlier, the average number of cases added to the state's tallies each day over a rolling seven-day period fell Thursday to 139.
That was still just short of the low for the year of 134 cases a day on average that were added during the week that ended Tuesday.
Although it was down from a week earlier, the number of cases in the state that were considered active rose Thursday by 15, to 1,673, as new cases outpaced recoveries.
The number of virus patients who were on ventilators rose by one, to 38.
The number of covid-19 patients who were in intensive care fell for the third day in a row, going from 83 as of Wednesday to 78.
FEWER REWARDED
Hutchinson announced last week that Arkansans who receive vaccine doses May 26 or later would each be eligible for their choice of a $20 scratch-off lottery ticket or two Game and Fish Commission gift certificates worth a total of $21.
People have been able to use their vaccination cards to claim one of the rewards at a local health unit since Tuesday.
The Health Department said Thursday that the number of people claiming lottery tickets fell from 122 Tuesday to 98 on Wednesday.
The number claiming Game and Fish certificates, meanwhile, rose from 22 to 31.
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Hutchinson said last week that the state was using federal funds to purchase 50,000 of the lottery tickets and 50,000 pairs of gift certificates, and could buy more if the program is successful.
In other vaccine news, Baptist Health announced Thursday that it will administer the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine on a first-come, first-served basis at two clinics planned for churches in Fort Smith on June 12.
One is a walk-up clinic at Mission United Methodist Church from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and the other is a drive-thru clinic at Bartholomew's Episcopal Church from 2-4 p.m.
A spokeswoman for the health system said Wednesday that it had about 2,000 Johnson & Johnson doses that are set to expire later this month.
The health system is also administering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at appointment-only drive-thru clinics on Tuesdays and Thursdays through June 22 at 10117 Kanis Road in Little Rock.
Appointments can be scheduled by calling (501) 202-1540.
Statewide, the number of vaccine doses that had been administered, including second doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, rose Thursday by 6,346.
That was bigger than the increase Wednesday but down by more than 1,500 from the rise a week earlier.
Already at its lowest level since at least early January, the average number of doses administered each day over a rolling seven-day period fell by more than 200, to 5,042.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of Arkansans who had received at least one vaccine dose rose Thursday by 2,765, to 1,198,872, representing about 39.7% of the state's population.
The number who had been fully vaccinated rose by 3,517, to 946,639, or about 31.4% of the population.
Among the states and District of Columbia, Arkansas continued to rank 45th in the percentage of its residents who had received at least one vaccine dose and 49th, ahead of only Alabama and Mississippi, in the percentage who had been fully vaccinated.
CASES BY COUNTY
The cases that were added to the state's tallies Thursday included 131 that were confirmed through polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, tests.
The other 66 were "probable" cases, which include those identified through less-sensitive antigen tests.
The state's cumulative count of cases rose to 341,889.
That comprised 266,987 confirmed cases and 74,902 probable ones.
Pulaski County had the most new cases, 28, followed by Lonoke County with 16, and Saline County with 15.
Among prison and jail inmates, the Health Department's count of cases rose by three.
Department of Corrections spokeswoman Cindy Murphy said the Ouachita River Unit in Malvern had three new cases.
A day earlier, she said the prison had a total of 1,781 cases among inmates, including nine that were active.
The state's death toll rose by seven, to 4,635, among confirmed cases and remained at 1,207 among probable cases.
Among nursing home and assisted living facility residents, the state's count of virus deaths fell by one, to 2,091, after a death that was reported earlier was determined to be unrelated to covid-19.
The number of people who have ever been hospitalized in the state with covid-19 grew by 19, to 16,395.
The number of the state's virus patients who have ever been on ventilator with covid-19 rose by seven, to 1,673.