Virus hospitalizations in state fall below 200

A covid testing sign directs drivers waiting in line to get a free covid-19 self-test at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
A covid testing sign directs drivers waiting in line to get a free covid-19 self-test at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

The Arkansas Department of Health reported Sunday that covid-19-related hospitalizations were at 192 -- the first time since June that hospitalizations have been below 200.

The tally of active cases fell by 98 to 2,578. Hospitals reported 42 people on ventilators, or 12 fewer people than Saturday.

"This is a great development," Gov. Asa Hutchinson said via social media. "What this really means is that Arkansans are working together to beat the pandemic. Let's keep doing what we're doing and chase COVID-19 out of Arkansas."

Six more people died from the virus, raising the state's death toll since March 2020 to 5,539. The total number of cases since the pandemic reached Arkansas increased by 108 to 328,655.

[CORONAVIRUS: Click here for our complete coverage » arkansasonline.com/coronavirus]

Pulaski County had the most new cases at 19, followed by Benton and Washington counties with 15 each, White County with 10, and Faulkner County with nine.

Polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, and antigen tests rose by 6,422, bringing the total number given in March to 139,889 -- compared with 200,998 in the same period last month.

The state received 16,005 new vaccine doses, and federal programs in Arkansas received 5,540, according to the Health Department.

As of Sunday, 956,076 shots have been given in Arkansas.

The Health Department reported that 332,503 people are fully immunized; as of Saturday, more Arkansans were considered immunized than have contracted the disease.

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