The number of covid-19 cases in Arkansas continued to dwindle as the state proceeds with efforts to see that vaccinations are provided to those deemed most vulnerable and to a wide variety of people described as essential workers.
The Arkansas Department of Health reported 52 new cases Monday, the lowest daily figure since early May. The state's covid-19 death toll rose by five, to 5,544.
The number of covid-19 patients hospitalized dropped by eight, to 184. The number of active cases was 2,332, down by 246.
The state epidemiologist, Dr. Jennifer Dillaha, said she believes that covid-19 vaccines are already saving lives and reducing hospitalizations in Arkansas.
More than one-fifth of all individuals in the state have received at least one of the shots. More than one-tenth are now fully immunized against the virus.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Sunday that barring a resurgence of cases, he expects to eliminate the state's mask mandate at month's end.
With cases, hospitalizations and deaths down, lawmakers will need to determine whether to continue the yearlong public health emergency.
On Friday, Hutchinson wrote to leaders of the Legislative Council, asking for a 60-day extension.
Under legislation signed into law by Hutchinson that same day, the Legislative Council is now empowered to reject such extensions.
While the state "continues to make progress in reducing the number of infections and hospitalizations," Hutchinson warned that the virus and its variants "remain a threat to the health and safety of Arkansans until vaccines are available and administered to a larger population of the state."
The extension, he wrote, would "allow for flexibility and rapid response capabilities until we are able to receive and administer vaccines to any Arkansans who want one."
A Legislative Council co-chairman, Sen. Terry Rice, R-Waldron, announced Monday to senators that the council would convene at 8 a.m. next Monday to consider the governor's request to extend the public health emergency.
"This is new for everybody, so we'll see what the process does," he said afterward.
Asked about the prospect of the Legislative Council rejecting the governor's request, the other co-chairman, Senate President Pro Tempore Jimmy Hickey, R-Texarkana, said, "It is my understanding that we would have to do a motion to do away with it, and then we would have to vote in the affirmative to do away with it.
"I don't have ... any polling or anything like that," he said.
House Speaker Matthew Shepherd, R-El Dorado, said, "In the last couple of weeks, especially with the governor moving away from mandates, I haven't had as many discussions with the membership about how they feel about the particular emergency.
"As we move toward the [Legislative Council] considering that, I would imagine I'll be having a lot more discussions," he said. "At this point, I don't know that I could say where the votes would be on an issue."
Shortly after posting Monday's covid-19 statistics on Twitter, Hutchinson reiterated the need for an extension, telling the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in a written statement: "The emergency declaration continues to be necessary as part of the requirement for access to some federal programs, the risk of the virus, variants and for the other reasons stated in my letter to the General Assembly."
Most of the state's 75 counties reported no new covid-19 cases Monday. The state's correctional institutions recorded no confirmed cases.
Dillaha said Monday's data was "consistent with the downward trend in the number of cases."
Demand for covid-19 tests has also dropped, she said.
"We are having decreased testing, but the positivity rate is low, which tells us we're probably not missing a lot of cases," she said. The tests reported Monday totaled 1,888.
"Taking the picture together overall, we are seeing a decline in the spread of covid-19 in the state," she said.
Pulaski County led the state with 12 new cases, followed by Washington (six), Lonoke (five), Union (five) and Garland (four) counties.
In Arkansas hospitals, there were 42 covid-19 patients on ventilators, the same number as on Sunday.
The recent drop in infections and hospitalizations is "wonderful news," Dillaha said, but she also cautioned that the virus remains a threat.
"We want the spread to stay low while we vaccinate people because we are concerned about the spread of some of these variants of the virus that causes covid-19," she said.
Designated as "variants of concern" by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "these are variants that are documented to spread more easily. They could potentially cause more severe disease and they could, potentially, be harder to treat," Dillaha said.
"We want to keep the spread as low as possible so that we can vaccinate as many people as possible so that, in the end, the spread of these variants could be minimized," she said.
Since the start of Arkansas' March 2020 public health emergency, there have been 15,215 covid-19 hospitalizations within the state; 1,563 of those required ventilators.
Thus far, Arkansas has received or been allocated 1,668,240 doses of vaccines. Of those, 959,791 shots have been given, state health officials said.
As of Monday, 333,753 people had been fully immunized in Arkansas; another 310,588 had been partially immunized, state officials said.
Two of the vaccines -- from Pfizer and Moderna -- require two shots; Johnson & Johnson's vaccine requires one shot.
The state's population is slightly above 3 million.
The state rollout drew concerns Monday from U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark.
In a letter to Diana Espinosa, the acting administrator of the federal Health Resources and Services Administration, Womack asked if the federal government could increase its vaccine shipments to communities in Northwest Arkansas.
"While Arkansas has a robust vaccination plan, it has become clear that the northwestern part of the state is rapidly falling behind," he wrote.
In a news release, the former Rogers mayor said he had also raised vaccine-related issues Monday with Arkansas officials, including Hutchinson.
In a written statement, the governor confirmed that the two had spoken.
"I spoke with Congressman Womack today and he expressed his concerns about the vaccination rate in NWA. I agree and we are working to both get more doses to NWA and to increase the acceptance rate," Hutchinson said.