Saturday continued a spike in covid-19 cases in Arkansas, as the tally of new cases topped 200 for the fifth consecutive day and active cases hit a 4-week high.
The Arkansas Department of Health reported 264 new cases of the coronavirus on Saturday.
Saturday's gain followed 289 new cases on Thursday and 393 new cases, the largest one-day increase in almost three months, on Friday. Before Thursday, new covid-19 cases in Arkansas had not exceeded 250 in one day since May 25.
New cases outpaced recoveries, adding 127 active cases to the state's official tally. Saturday's report of 2,112 active covid-19 cases in Arkansas is the first since May 29 of more than 2,000 cases, and is the most since the state reported 2,116 cases on May 15. It's a surge of more than 30% from Monday's 1,594 cases, the lowest tally this month.
Active cases are “people who are currently infectious and need to be in isolation,” state epidemiologist Jennifer Dillaha said.
The Health Department has recorded 343,873 positive covid cases in the state since March 2020. Of those, 335,839 are considered recovered.
The state's official death toll from the disease since March 2020 reached 5,860 on Saturday, an increase of one.
Pulaski County had 49 new cases Saturday, the most in the state. Saline County had 21 new cases, and Stone County had 18.
The number of vaccinations given daily has remained below 8,000 since May 28. The state reported the administration of 7,538 doses in the 24-hour period ending Saturday afternoon, the highest number so far this month.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson thanked “everyone who continues to encourage vaccines” in his daily Twitter statement about the covid-19 data.
“Our vaccination numbers are up, but our active cases have increased,” Hutchinson tweeted. “Let’s keep going in the right direction as we enter summer.”
Covid hospitalizations dropped below 200 for the first time in five days on Saturday, with 197 hospitalized, five fewer than Friday. Forty-two patients were on ventilators for the second consecutive day.
More details in Sunday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.