Arkansas reports 288 new covid cases

Margie Pullam, a registered nurse for CHI St. Vincent, gives Fernando Torres his first dose of the coronavirus vaccine Friday, April 23, 2021, at Little Rock Southwest High School. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Staci Vandagriff)
Margie Pullam, a registered nurse for CHI St. Vincent, gives Fernando Torres his first dose of the coronavirus vaccine Friday, April 23, 2021, at Little Rock Southwest High School. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Staci Vandagriff)

Arkansas reported no new deaths from covid-19 on Wednesday even as its count of cases rose by 288.

The number of people hospitalized in the state with covid-19 rose for the second day in a row, with the number who were on ventilators and in intensive care units reaching their highest levels in almost three months.

Already at its highest level in more than a month, the number of cases in the state that were considered active rose by 107, to 2,251, as new cases outpaced recoveries.

"The need to get vaccinated continues to be apparent," Gov. Asa Hutchinson said in a tweet.

"We have been able to decrease our case numbers and hospitalizations dramatically over the past six months due to the vaccine, but we must increase our vaccination numbers to avoid new cases & hospitalizations."

Wednesday was the second day this month, and just the seventh this year, that the state didn't report any new deaths from covid-19.

The official toll fell by two, to 5,867, reflecting deaths were reclassified as being from causes other than covid-19.

The number of people hospitalized rose by seven, to 211, its highest level in a week.

After falling by one on Tuesday, the number of virus patients who were on ventilators rose by three, to 50, its highest level since March 20.

The number who were in intensive care rose by seven, to 112, its highest level since March 17.

While smaller than the one on Tuesday, the increase in cases on Wednesday was the seventh one in a row that 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 to 247, its highest level since March 20.

The number of vaccine doses that providers reported having administered, including second doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, rose by 5,928.

That was more than 1,000 fewer than the increase the previous week.

The average number of doses administered each day over a rolling seven-day period fell to 5,249, its lowest level since the week ending June 7 and down from a peak of more than 23,000 a day in early April.

CORRECTION: Wednesday was the seventh day this year that the state didn't report any new deaths from covid-19. A previous version included an incorrect number.

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