Arkansas' 1-year coronavirus death toll tops 5,400; hospitalizations, active cases fall

This undated electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in February 2020 shows the Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus causes covid-19. - Photo by NIAID-RML via AP
This undated electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in February 2020 shows the Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus causes covid-19. - Photo by NIAID-RML via AP

A year after the first covid-19 patient in Arkansas was diagnosed, the state's death toll from the virus, as tracked by the Arkansas Department of Health, stood at 5,410.

The 28 additional deaths reported Thursday came even as the number of people hospitalized in Arkansas with the coronavirus fell below 300 for the first time since July 3.

The state's count of cases rose by 340 — the third consecutive daily increase that was smaller than a day earlier.

“As we remember the one-year anniversary of the first COVID-19 case in Arkansas today, we look back at the challenges we've overcome," Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Thursday in a statement. "The past year has been difficult for each of us, but the vaccine gives us hope in our fight against this virus.”

The number of people hospitalized with covid-19 in Arkansas fell by 23, to 278, the third consecutive daily decrease.

After rising a day earlier, the number of virus patients who were on ventilators fell by five, to 67.

Active cases fell by 83, to 3,144.

More details in Friday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

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